Lisbon, Oct. 21, 2025 (Lusa) - The Portuguese public transport operator in Lisbon, Carris, has indicated that the process of acquiring the cable for the Glória funicular, which an investigation has found to contain irregularities, took place during the mandate prior to that of the current board of directors.
In the preliminary report, released on Monday evening, on the Glória funicular accident, which caused 16 deaths and around two dozen injuries, the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft and Railway Accidents (GPIAAF) stated that the cable connecting the two cabins of the Glória funicular, which broke at its attachment point on the carriage that derailed, did not comply with Carris' specifications and was not certified for use in passenger transport.
In a statement, Carris emphasised that the report considers that "[...] it is not possible at this time to say whether the non-conformities in the use of the cable are relevant to the accident" and clarified that the process of purchasing the cables, "with alleged non-conformities, which affected the entire cable replacement process, took place during a mandate prior to that of the current board of directors".
"On this matter, the Carris board of directors is unaware of the facts set out" in the Summary of Relevant Findings to Date on the traction/balance cable (in points 2 to 5), the transport company stressed, indicating that, "since the report refers to non-compliance with regulations in force at Carris, the respective responsibilities will be investigated".
According to the report, to which the Lusa agency had access on Monday evening, "the cable installed did not comply with Carris' specifications" for use in the Glória funicular, nor "was it certified for use in passenger transport facilities".
The GPIAAF adds that the cable "was not suitable for installation with swivels at its ends, as is the system in the Glória funicular (and in the Lavra funicular)".
The investigation detected flaws in Carris' cable procurement process and in the internal control mechanisms of this company responsible for the funiculars.
According to the preliminary report, Carris, in the process of purchasing cables for the Glória funicular, sent potential suppliers cable specifications for the Santa Justa lift, which are different, failing to detect the error or explain the mistake.
The document released on Monday evening explains Carris's procurement process, which began in March 2022, for a batch of two cables, one of which functioned normally for 600 days, and the second of which failed after 337 days of use.
According to the GPIAAF, "for a reason that Carris was unable to explain to the investigation, and for which it was not possible to find documentary evidence in the consultation with suppliers, the specification provided" by Carris' Electrical Maintenance Department (DME) "for one of the Santa Justa lift cables was adopted for the two additional items, corresponding to the cables for the Glória and Lavra funiculars, changing only the diameter".
The GPIAAF reports that, on 17 March 2022, the Electrical Maintenance Department identified that the cables for the remotorisation of the Santa Justa lift were not in stock, signalling to the Logistics and Assets Department the need for their "urgent purchase".
The Logistics and Assets Department consulted four companies about the cables for the Santa Justa lift, requested by the Electrical Maintenance Department, "to which were added" two other items "relating to the cables for the Glória and Lavra funiculars", justified by a pending purchase order dated 18 November 2021.
The GPIAAF considers it "relevant" that this consultation includes as its only attachments the two files provided by the Electrical Maintenance Department with the characteristics of the two cables for the Santa Justa lift and an indication of the applicable standard.
The contract between Carris and the selected supplier was signed on 14 April 2022.
"Once again, the signatory parties did not detect the differences in the document between the grading and certification standard for the steels requested by CCFL [Carris] and proposed by the supplier. Nor did the inventory numbers of the items listed in the specifications compared to those to be supplied raise any questions," says the GPIAAF.
The cables were received and accepted at the Carris warehouse on 9 August 2022, "without the organisational quality control mechanisms detecting the various discrepancies that existed".
"According to statements collected, at the time of the first installation of the cable in the Glória funicular in December 2022, the service provider's workers and CCFL [Carris] supervisors on site effectively noticed its different composition and behaviour when handled, namely the fact that it had a fibre core and was much more flexible and easier to handle," explains the GPIAAF.
After being subjected to the weight of the cabins, "the cable increased considerably in length compared to its nominal dimension, which meant that a 4.5-metre section had to be cut off so that the cabins could remain in the position they should be in".
"However, the workers involved did not have the necessary knowledge to detect the cable's non-compliance with the specification," the investigation indicates.
On the other hand, the GPIAAF stresses that "the engineering department, when informally consulted by the maintenance department about the different behaviour, assumed that the cable in question corresponded to the synthetic fibre core alternative allowed in the specification it had drawn up and had no reason to suspect that the cable purchased did not correspond to it", considering "such a difference in behaviour to be normal and expected".
The accident involving the Glória funicular in Lisbon on 3 September caused 16 deaths and around two dozen injuries, among Portuguese and foreign nationals of various nationalities.
RCS/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
