Lisbon, Sept. 16, 2025 (Lusa) - Lisbon public transport, lift and funicular operator, Carris, a company under the supervision of the city council, on Tuesday denied any disinvestment in transport maintenance, after the Diário de Notícias newspaper reported a 28% drop in the cost of maintaining the electrical infrastructure.
The article, which is the headline story in today's edition of the Diário de Notícias (DN) newspaper, states that, taking inflation into account, between 2021 and 2024, Carris's real costs for maintaining electrical infrastructure and its fleet fell by 28% and 9.3%, respectively.
However, in a statement sent to the media in response to the DN article, Carris "reiterates that any insinuation of disinvestment in maintenance is false".
The cost of maintenance activities exceeded €24.6 million in the past, an increase of 32.7% compared to 2020, the company pointed out.
Carris also argued that total spending on maintenance and investment rose 59% in the same period, reaching €45.3 million.
In both cases, the company makes no reference to the impact of inflation.
Carris' electrical infrastructure includes lifts, such as the Glória funicular, which derailed on 3 September in an accident that left 16 people dead and around two dozen injured, including Portuguese and foreigners of various nationalities, and which is currently under investigation.
"We have increased Carris' budget by 30%," said Carlos Moedas (PSD/CDS-PP/IL), the current mayor of Lisbon and candidate in the upcoming local elections, on Monday.
In the first debate, organised by SIC TV, with candidates for the Lisbon city council in the local elections on 12 October, socialist Alexandra Leitão said that the statement "is not true" regarding the cost of maintaining the lifts.
In response, the Social Democrat added that the lift maintenance contract comes from previous Carris management, appointed by the Socialists (PS), worth €900,000, an amount that was increased to €1.2 million, but that "had no bidders" in the public tender.
On Monday, the Government authorised the expansion of the staff of the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft and Railway Accidents (GPIAAF) so that it now has three investigators specialising in the railway sector.
Under the terms of Order No. 10832/2025 published in the official government gazette and effective as of today - the executive determines "the allocation of three investigators to the area of railway accident investigation, in order to allow the GPIAAF to hire the specialised technicians it needs to ensure the investigation of railway accidents and incidents, in accordance with European and national legislation".
The decree is signed by the Minister of Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, and the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz.
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