Lisbon, Sept. 5, 2025 (Lusa) - The Glória funicular, one of the main tourist attractions in Lisbon city centre, derailed on Wednesday in the worst accident in its nearly 140-year history, causing 16 deaths and more than 20 injuries.
The accident, which is being investigated by several authorities, killed and injured people of various nationalities, and the government declared a day of national mourning, which was observed on Thursday. The Lisbon city council declared three days of municipal mourning, from Thursday to Saturday.
Key points about the Glória funicular accident:
+++ When the accident occurred +++
The Glória funicular, consisting of two motorised electric cabins synchronised by cable, derailed at around 6 p.m. on Wednesday, and about five minutes later, the professional firefighters and ambulance service, INEM, were on the scene and immediately began rescue and extrication operations.
Sixty members of the professional firefighter regiment were involved in the rescue operations, supported by 15 vehicles, and 19 ambulances were involved in the rescue operations, including those from INEM, the volunteer fire brigades of the city of Lisbon, as well as those from Pontinha, Algés and Carnaxide (Lisbon suburbs).
The operations were supported by members of the Municipal Police, the Public Security Police and the Lisbon Municipal Civil Protection Service.
A psychological support centre coordinated by INEM was set up in the vicinity of the site, where professionals from other entities were also involved to receive and provide information and psychological support to the families and friends of the victims who had come to the scene.
+++ 16 dead and 22 injured +++
The accident caused 16 deaths - five Portuguese, two South Koreans, one Swiss, three British, two Canadians, one Ukrainian, one American and one French - who were identified by the Judicial Police and the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences.
According to the authorities, there were also 22 injured, who were taken to various hospitals in the Lisbon area.
Nine injured people are still hospitalised at São José, Santa Maria and São Francisco Xavier hospitals, six of whom are in intensive care units. Those who suffered minor injuries have already been discharged from hospital.
+++ Speed in determining the causes +++
On Thursday, the country's president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said he hoped that the causes of the Glória accident would be determined "as quickly as possible", both legally and technically.
Similarly, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro promised swiftness in the ongoing investigations, stressing that this was one of the "greatest human tragedies in our recent history".
The mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, asked the municipal public transport company Carris to carry out an independent external investigation, in addition to the internal investigation, stressing that the "city needs answers" about the causes of the derailment.
+++ External consultants in the Carris investigation +++
Following Carlos Moedas' request, the president of Carris, Pedro de Brito Bogas, said that the internal investigation will involve the collaboration of external consultants, assuring that the company is cooperating fully with the authorities investigating the accident.
The company's manager also stated that the maintenance of the lift, carried out by an outsourced company, was scrupulously complied with and assured that Carris more than doubled its investment in this area between 2015 and 2025.
+++ Trade union criticism of outsourcing maintenance +++
The Federation of Transport and Telecommunications Trade Unions (Fectrans) called for a thorough investigation into the derailment to ascertain its immediate causes, but also to analyse the effects of outsourcing the maintenance service.
Union leader Manuel Leal stated that Carris workers had made "repeated complaints" about the need for lift maintenance to be carried out again by the company's own workers.
The Coordinating Committee of Workers' Committees of the Lisbon Region (CIL) also criticised the outsourcing of Carris' maintenance services, arguing that they should be carried out by company employees "and not by outsourcing, which is only aimed at profit".
+++ Candidates want clarification from Moedas +++
With just over a month to go before the local elections, the head of the PS/Livre/BE/PAN coalition list for the Lisbon city council, socialist Alexandra Leitão, said on Thursday that this was a time for ‘solidarity and unity’, but stressed that clarification from Carlos Moedas would be needed in the coming days.
Today, Chega municipal MP and candidate for Lisbon city council, Bruno Mascarenhas, announced the presentation of a motion of censure against the local authority executive, demanding accountability for the accident with the Glória funicular.
+++ Carris under local authority supervision since 2017 +++
In 2017, Carris, which is dedicated to urban public passenger transport, came under the management of Lisbon city council and, according to company data, had around 2,500 employees, managing a fleet of 773 buses, 64 trams, three lifts and one elevator.
In 2024, Carris transported 134 million passengers and, in terms of trams, lifts and elevators, recorded a 7% increase in passenger demand.
In that year, fare revenue grew by 2.8% compared to the previous year, reaching around €122 million.
+++ Maintenance ensured by direct contract award +++
Carris was recently forced to enter into a direct contract with the company that currently maintains Lisbon's lifts and elevators for five months, after the public contract for this purpose expired at the end of August.
A new public tender will be launched later this month.
Maintenance services have been provided by MNTC/Main since 2019, and outsourcing in this area for lifts and elevators has been in place since 2007.
The president of Carris stated that the last general maintenance of the Glória funicular was carried out in 2022 and that it should be carried out again within four years (by 2026). The safety plan in force also provides for weekly and monthly maintenance and daily inspections, the last of which was carried out on Thursday, the accident day.
+++ Elevators suspended immediately +++
On the day of the accident, the mayor of Lisbon ordered the immediate suspension of operations of the Bica and Lavra elevators and the Graça Funicular so that the equipment could be inspected.
All designed by engineer Raoul Mesnier de Ponsar, the Lavra, Glória and Bica lifts are also managed by Carris, as is the Graça Funicular.
The Glória lift connects Restauradores to the Jardim de São Pedro de Alcântara in Bairro Alto, covering a distance of around 265 metres, and is very popular with tourists.
On 19 February 2002, the Lavra, Glória and Bica lifts and the Santa Justa Lift were classified as National Monuments.
A landmark tourist attraction in the city of Lisbon, the Glória funicular was also the name chosen by the Portuguese rock band Rádio Macau for their album released in 1984.
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