Report cites cable failure in Portugal streetcar derailment
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- A cable failure in a Portugal streetcar killed 16 people and injured 21 in one of Lisbon’s worst recent tragedies.
- The century-old funicular’s connecting cable snapped at the attachment point, causing brakes to fail as the cabin accelerated downward, a preliminary report found.
- Investigators found the 1914 streetcar’s safety systems couldn’t stop the runaway cabin.
LISBON, Portugal — The first investigative report on the deadly derailment of a popular Portugal streetcar said Saturday that a cable connecting the two cabins essentially snapped.
Wednesday’s crash left 16 dead and injured 21 others in one of Lisbon’s worst tragedies in recent memory.
The report by the Office for Air and Rail Accident Investigations released Saturday said the two cabins had traveled not more than 20 feet when they suddenly lost the balancing force provided by the connecting cable.
The yellow-and-white streetcar, known as Elevador da Gloria, travels up and down a steep downtown hill. The cabin at the top sped downward.
“The cabin’s brakeman immediately applied the pneumatic brake and the hand brake to try to halt the movement,” the report said. “These actions had no effect in stopping or reducing the cabin’s speed, and it continued accelerating down the slope.”
Examining the wreckage at the site, it was “immediately clear that the connecting cable had given way” at the attachment point to the cabin that was at the top of the hill, the report said.
The streetcar, technically called a funicular, is harnessed by steel cables, with the descending car helping with its weight to pull up the other one. It can carry more than 40 people, seated and standing.
The exact number of passengers in each vehicle at the time has not yet been determined, the report said.
The streetcar that crashed had been in use since 1914.
A final report containing the facts, analysis and conclusions regarding the causes of the accident is due to be published later. If a final report isn’t possible within one year, an interim report will be published.
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