A scenario that emerges? A few hours after the funicular accident in Lisbon, which left at least 17 dead, “everything seems to indicate a serious mechanical failure,” warns the president of Sitra (Lisbon Union of Transport Workers), Francisco Oliveira, in CNN Portugal.
“The fact that the tram has fallen, that people felt a shock (…), indicates that there was a mechanical failure,” he insists on local television.
Since yesterday, the images of the resistant car are flooding social networks. Wednesday, September 3, around 6 pm, the famous Funicular of Gloria, very popular among tourists and premises, was derailing before colliding in a busy street in Lisbon.
The results are heavy: at least 17 dead and 21 injured, including a three -year -old boy, according to local authorities. If the cause of the accident is at this unknown stage, the suspicion is increasingly moving towards the transport company, Carris Lisbon, in charge of the funicular.
Several archived reports
According to the Portuguese news agency, Portuguese, many complaints about the need to maintain elevators, including the Funicular of Gloria, had been presented by workers’ unions against Carris.
“Basically, what seems important to us in this accident is that there must be a rigorous investigation into its causes,” said Lusa, Manuel Leal, spokesman for the Fectrans (Federation of Transportation and Communications Unions) and the Strup (Union of Road and Urban Transport Workers).
“The workers have long reported the need to trust once again the maintenance of these elevators to Carris employees and not to external companies,” he insists.
During the last ten years, an external company has ensured the maintenance of the Funicular of Gloria, confirmed the president of Carris, Pedro Bogas, to CNN Portugal. However, it ensures that the maintenance protocol is “scrupulously respected.”
Asked a few hours after the tragedy, the transport company also told the Portuguese media Sic News that the funicular had carried out its last general interview in 2022 and was repaired in 2024.
The statements called in Wednesday by the Portuguese newspaper Page UM, which states that the maintenance contract for the four elevators of Lisbon, including Gloria, had expired since Sunday, August 31.
An investigation will have to determine the exact circumstances of the accident, as well as the responsibility, if demonstrated, of the Lisbon Transportation Company.
An accident in 2018
This is not the first time that the famous Lisbon Funicular has been involved in an accident. On May 7, 2018, one of the positions of the Gloria Funicular derailed without victims.
António Carloto, a member of the APAC (Portuguese Association of Friends of the Railways) had indicated at that time a lack of maintenance: “He (the funicular, the editor’s note) derailed and this time, there were no consequences. Next time, it may not be the case. It is clear that it was negligence,” he had pointed to the Portuguese magazine.
António Carloto had also said that he had noticed traces of wear on the wheels. After the accident, the company Carris had suspended the transport service of the capital and announced the general maintenance of elevators, ensuring that they would remain “in perfect safety and operation conditions during the next two years.”
Lisbon’s drama caused emotion in the capital. In tribute to the victims, the mayor of the city Carlos Moeda decreed three days of national mourning and said they lament a “serious accident that should never have happened.”
Source: BFM TV
