FlixBus announces: You'll start operating in Sete Rios later this month

A FlixBus announced this Thursday that will start operating at Sete Rios Terminal in Lisbon on September 29in a first phase of access 23 daily hours and after all the controversy with the Express Network. 

“ The entry to the terminal takes place more than six months after the decision of the Lisbon Administrative Court of 8 March, which determined the immediate access of FlixBus to Sete Rios, and represents only a first phase of a process that the operator considers far from being completed ", can be read in a statement sent to News to Minutes. 

FlixBus argues that “23 now authorised services represent about 1.9% of the alleged total capacity of Sete Rios Terminal, estimated at about 1,200 daily services, and have significant limitations”.

“ Between 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., FlixBus was not given any availability to operate daily in the terminal, creating a blocking period in which is the moment of greatest demand”, he adds. 

Still, “on the other hand, some of the slots assigned times are not available every day of the week, which prevents the operation of some trips only on certain days, causing some disruption in the operation.”.

FlixBus accuses Express Network of “distortion of facts” about Sete Rios

The National Express Network (RNE) announced, last week, which FlixBus asked again to postpone, this time from 24 to 29 September, the start of its operation at the Sete Rios road terminal in Lisbon, according to a statement.

flixbus denies that this is a request for postponement, and accuses the NNE “in bad faith” and “distortion of facts” for trying to assign it “the responsibility for delay” in access to that terminal, according to the source of the company.

 
 
“FlixBus has always made it clear that it needs a minimum period of 20 days, after the final confirmation of access to the terminal and the correction of the validity of the capacity declarations, to carry out all the necessary changes in the system and prepare the transfer of the operation” of the Gare do Oriente terminal, where the company currently operates, to Sete Rios, explained the same source.

This transfer will imply “the cancellation of thousands of trips already put on sale and, in many cases, already reserved for the East terminal, requiring the rescheduling of passengers to other services or the cancellation of reservations,” he added.

He also claimed that “the final confirmation of the Express Network for the 23 services to be transferred in this first phase did not arrive until Wednesday, at 8:30 p.m., following the meeting between FlixBus and the Express Network promoted by AMT” (Mobility and Transport Authority), so it was only at that meeting that it was possible to close “a principle of agreement for the start of the operation of FlixBus in the Sete Rios Terminal at the end of September”.

In this email, the RNE agreed to extend until December 31 the declarations of capacity, which were expired or in the process of expiring, for the purposes of Flixbus' access to Sete Rios, and which were one of the points of the dispute between the two companies.

But, the Flixbus considers that “despite this first understanding, the process is far from complete“.

In the statement sent to the essays, the RNE, which manages the terminal, stated that Flixbus “must obtain compulsory licences” to operate in Sete Rios, which “had not yet happened until the beginning of September.”.

In the statement, the RNE also states that it granted access to FlixBus on May 22, 2026, and sought “to accommodate the successive claims of this operator, respecting the capacity effectively available”.

Following a March decision of the Lisbon Administrative Court, determining the “immediate grant of access” of Flixbus to Sete Rios, the two entities have held talks to comply with the decision, but FlixBus has accused the operator of the Barraqueiro group of delaying its entry into the infrastructure.

How did you get here?

O disputing between the two companies began with a complaint from Flixbus to AMT in 2023, when the RNE refused to give access to the infrastructure.

The regulator delivered an opinion on 8 May 2025 which was in favour of the German multinational by verifying that the Seven Rios terminal had available capacity, which should lead the Express Network to provide access to Flixbus and any other operator within the available times.

In June 2025, the RNE denied access, which led Flixbus, in July, to request the Institute of Mobility and Transport to temporarily suspend the granting of express service authorizations and, in October, to bring proceedings, however, decided by the Administrative Court of Lisbon in March 2026.