In Portugal found a possible cause of a funicular accident in Lisbon

The tragedy with Glória funicular in Lisbon, which claimed the lives of 16 people, could have happened because of the replacement of a steel rope with a new with polymer core.

Source: Expresso with reference to experts of the Institute of Higher Technical Research (IST) and engineers.

Details: Six years ago, the old steel rope was replaced with another, but the mounting system remained unchanged. Over time, the material could weaken at the point of fastening due to heating, vibration and deformation, which led to the disaster.

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The Carris transport company, which was responsible for maintenance, had to check the new system after replacing the rope, but did not do so. In addition, the night inspection, which the company allegedly held 18 hours before the accident, raises serious doubts: the work reported in the work report required much more time than it was stated.

The previous GPIAF report (bureau on the prevention and investigation of air and rail accidents) confirmed that the cable weakened at the point of mounting to the top of the cabin. It is not about a break, but about “plastic deformation”. The final conclusions should be published in 45 days.

Another reason for the scale of the tragedy was that the brakes did not work. According to IST experts, this testifies to “grossly constructive mistakes”, which are “unacceptable in our time”.

Reference: Gloria, which contains more than 40 people, is one of three funicles in the Portugal capital and has the status of a national monument.

It connects the Lisbon Center with the Bairro-Al district and is actively used by both residents and tourists.

Two wagons, connected by one rope, run in parallel up and down the hill by several hundred meters.

Prehistory:

• The wagon of a funicular, which connects the districts of Resttaradors and Prcystip-Real in Lisbon, came off the rails on September 3 during one of the flights.
• The accident killed 16 people: three British, two South Koreans, two Canadians, one Frenchwoman, one Swiss, one American and one Ukrainian.