Behind a deposition of police ribbons on the corner of the Calçada da Glória and the Rua da Glória, in the center of Lisbon, the debris of a completely destroyed tram are, according to images. Police officers photograph and investigate the parts of the yellow skeleton, the red roof and the unrecognizable chunks of steel, which came loose when the tram shot out of the rails around 6.05 pm on Wednesday around 6.05 pm local time (19.05 hours of Dutch time) and raced dozens of meters. The tram came to a halt against a building. Sixteen people were killed, at least 21 others were injured. The Portuguese government declared a day of national mourning on Thursday.
The Elevador da Glória, one of the three iconic white-yellow trams that control the steep hills of the Portuguese capital, is a popular tourist attraction. Every year about three million Portuguese and tourists take a ride in a tram on the Glória route. The vehicles have been part of the street scene of Lisbon for 170 years. How exactly do the Portuguese trams work? And how could things go so wrong on Wednesday?
48 meters height difference
The Elevador da Glória connects the Restauradores square in the center of the city with Bairro Alto, a neighborhood on top of the hill that is known for the panoramic views and the bustling nightlife. A ride in the Glória takes only three minutes and covers 265 meters, but because the tram bridges a height difference of 48 meters at the same time, it is a popular means of transport, especially hilly. In addition, the trams in Lisbon enjoy great popularity among tourists, perhaps more about the photos of the narrow, steep streets full of vowels than for the distance traveled. In 2002 the trams were designated as national heritage.
The Glória was built in 1855 by the Portuguese engineer Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, and is therefore the second oldest of the three historic cable trams in Lisbon. Two vehicles, one up and one down on the Glória route. The two trams ride in rails and are pulled through an underground steel cable – for example, they combine the technology of a cable car and a railway. Through that cable, the weight of the falling tram helps to pull the other vehicle onto the steep slope.
In the first instance, the trams were powered by hydropower: under the vehicles a tank hung that was filled at the top of the hill, the tank was emptied again below. In 1887 a system of steam engines replaced it. Almost thirty years later, major changes took place on the route, so that the cable railway line could be powered electrically. In September 1915, the Glória vehicles drove over the rails for the first time with electric motors.
Underground steel cable
Although the authorities have formally not known anything about the cause of the accident, it is clear that the underground safety cable has been broken. As a result, the trams shot loose. The lower vehicle, which was almost at the bottom of the slope at the time of the break, rolled a meter through and came to a halt at the bottom of the route against a sidewalk, eyewitnesses say to The Portuguese newspaper Público. There was no damage to that vehicle, none of the occupants were injured. But the second vehicle was almost at the top of the slope at the time of the break. The tram derailed, raced down, pulled all kinds of very heavy vowels out of the ground and bumped into a building in the bend of the Calçada da Glória.
The Portuguese civil engineer Carlos Oliveira Cruz, affiliated with the University of Lisbon, says to the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad That the accident cannot only be a consequence of a broken cable. The tram should also have brake systems that the vehicle can put in emergency situations, possibly those systems may have failed. “The safety of the system is not based on a single part.”
It is not known how many passengers were in the tram at the time of the accident, which has a maximum capacity of 42 people. The authorities are also busy with the identification of the victims. It is now clear that there are both Portuguese and people with a different nationality among the victims, and that it is about passengers and passers -by. The driver of the tram also died.
The vehicle raced down about two hundred meters and bumped into the bend against a building.
Carris, the manager of the trams, wrote Wednesday in a statement Together with the authorities to investigate the circumstances of the accident. According to the carrier, the tram was still repaired in 2024 and large -scale maintenance took place in 2022, as happened every four years. “The monthly and weekly maintenance programs and daily inspections have been meticulously complied with,” writes Carris, which also writes the victims to regret.
Although Wednesday’s accident is the most deadly accident in the recent history of Lisbon, it is not the first time that something goes wrong with the trams. Also On May 7, 2018 One of the vehicles derailed on the Glória process. The tram ended up on the sidewalk but did not tilt, nobody was injured. Manage company Carris then stopped the timetable for maintenance for a month, but did not give any further details. According to Público Were the wheels worn so that they were walking out of the rails.
Later that year, in Decemberanother tram derailed in a bend. This vehicle did, 28 people were (slightly) injured. Tram company Carris confirmed the derailment at the time and promised to carry out ‘thorough investigation’.