Lisbon, Aug. 31, 2026 (Lusa) - Lisbon transport company Carris is set to present its plans on Monday for the future Glória funicular, in Lisbon, just a few days before the first anniversary of the accident that claimed 16 lives and left 24 people of various nationalities injured.
«The session will outline the strategy being developed for this iconic site, based on striking a balance between safety, engineering, public space, user experience and heritage, whilst preserving the funicular's identity and historical connection with the Calçada da Glória and the city,» Carris said in a statement.
The company will present the «solution and the technical concepts underpinning the design of the future Glória funicular» at 4:00 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Association of Engineers in Lisbon.
The Glória funicular derailed on 3 September 2025, and, following the accident, the PSD/CDS-PP/IL-led municipal government announced the formation of a task force to study a new technological system for the future Glória funicular, comprising representatives from the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering (LNEC), the Association of Engineers and the Instituto Superior Técnico.
On 26 June, during a meeting between opposition councillors and the management of Carris, the company responsible for the Glória funicular, revealed that it intends to completely replace that equipment, as well as that of the Lavra funicular, with a modern, certified system, thereby phasing out Lisbon's historic, century-old funiculars, as reported by Lusa at the time.
«The management's perspective on the reactivation of Lisbon's historic funiculars, which are currently closed, was conveyed: the Glória and Lavra funiculars will be completely replaced with a modern, certified system, thereby phasing out the historic funiculars that have been part of our city for over a century,» *Livre* stated at the time in a press release.
At that same meeting, the chair of Carris, Rui Lopo, who took up the post in January, also spoke to the councillors about the «future without listed funiculars» and stated that «the city will be without its funiculars for many years», without giving a timeframe for their reopening.
The Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft and Railway Accidents (GPIAAF) has meanwhile reported that the final report on the accident will be ready by the end of the first quarter of 2027, rather than in September as previously planned, due to the complexity of the technical investigations.
Fidelidade, Carris's insurer, has revealed that it has so far incurred costs totalling €2.3 million, including expenses related to the accident, four compensation settlements with the families of fatalities, funeral services, repatriation, medical consultations, treatment, hospitalisation, surgical procedures, rehabilitation, transport and lost wages, amongst others.
Highlighting the «particular complexity» of some of the cases, Fidelidade stated that the conclusion of the cases «depends, essentially, on the clinical stabilisation of the victims, on obtaining the details necessary to assess the damages and, in compensation cases, on an agreement between the parties».
Over the past few months, the opposition to the PSD/CDS-PP/IL coalition government has called for more information and responses regarding the Glória lift accident, with the PS city councillors urging Carlos Moedas to adopt a more proactive approach to keep the matter in the public eye.
MPE/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
