Maybe the saddest accident of this sort occurred on Avenida da Liberdade in Lisbon when the Elevador da Glória funicular railway derailed. This calamity led to the tragic loss of 16 lives and injuries to 21 others. As a result, the funicular derailed and crashed into a nearby building. As a community, we’re deeply saddened by this tragic incident and that this young man lost his life.
The Elevador da Glória, a popular means of transport for both locals and tourists, has faced increased strain as Lisbon continues to attract visitors from around the globe. Advocates such as witness António Azevedo expressed deep concerns regarding the safety of the infrastructure. This issue is of particular concern in a city that heavily relies on tourism. Azevedo even called for more rigorous safety inspections after the disaster. He recommended increasing inspections to every two weeks in order to ensure that the same kind of disaster does not occur again.
“I think that cities that receive a lot of tourists must guarantee high safety [standards] with this kind of infrastructure,” Azevedo stated. He remarked, “This is old infrastructure, and someone needs to answer for what happened.”
Carris, the municipal public transport company, moved fast to control the incident. They had maintained that they did everything in terms of maintenance leading up to that crash. They refuel in the name of safety, doing daily inspections. Their organized distributed service program involves rigorous weekly and monthly inspections.
Yet even with these assurances, many visitors were left having an alarming experience on the funicular. Postaccident photos of the cause of the crash Australian tourist John Heron commented on the state of the trams before the crash. “I thought they looked ‘dodgy’ before the crash,” he noted. His concerns are illustrative of wider fears over the rescue deal’s safety standards that currently regulate legacy infrastructure across Europe.
The calamity took a rich variety of lives from five Portuguese citizens to two South Koreans and one citizen of Switzerland. Eyewitness image courtesy of NGH Eyewitness Farid speaks to the chaos that ensued seconds after the wreck. “We wanted to rescue people, to save lives,” he said, reflecting on the frantic attempts to assist those affected. Unfortunately, he said most of them were too far gone. Except no one was there to call for help, because they were all already dead. They were dead in seconds.
Portugal’s Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, said he was “deeply saddened” by the news. He described the crash as “one of the biggest tragedies in our recent history,” underscoring its impact on the nation.
Amidst the mourning, citizens and officials alike are calling for a reevaluation of safety measures surrounding public transport systems in Lisbon. Argentina Pereira, a long-time resident of the area, used to ride the funicular frequently as a child. Her heart sinks at what she sees as erosion from all that’s happened over the years. “I used to take the funicular four times a day [in the 1970s],” she recalled.
As many in the transit community right now are sounding alarm bells about safety standards. From here, they worry that without big systemic changes, another tragedy like this could occur again. Soraya Navarro saw the crash happen in real time. She reflected on how closely she came to being one of the casualties. “Since we saw what happened, we can’t stop thinking that it could have been us if we hadn’t changed our minds,” she said.