Portugal - At least 15 killed in derailment of an iconic yellow tram in Lisbon

[Dotta]

BBM

With all due respect, there has been no official confirmation from law enforcement so far. That may be the most probable cause, but there could be a number of other possibilities.
I'm also not sure who exactly is being referred to as the “people with access to the scene.”

MOO JMO

From my link:

"Carlos Mineiro Alves,
former president of the Portuguese Chamber of Engineers,
has no doubt that the direct cause of the tragedy was a broken cable.

'It was responsible for the cableway's movement.
Its failure must have led to the catastrophe',
he said in an interview with SIC television.
However,
he emphasized that a thorough and thorough investigation is necessary."

I understand
this is one of the theories.

Katastrofa kolejki Gloria wstrząsnęła Lizboną. Znana jest możliwa przyczyna

Lizbońska kolejka linowo-terenowa Gloria, jeden z symboli portugalskiej stolicy, stała się w środę wieczorem miejscem dramatycznego wypadku. Około godziny 18.00 wagon kolejki wypadł z szyn w pobliż...

businessinsider.com.pl

 

[Dotta]

Besides, IMO!!!
It is the most probable cause.

Without a supporting cable,
the heavy metal vehicle
(+ weight of all passengers)
started barreling like a rocket on a STEEP road.
And even brakes could not prevent the catastrophe.

As I wrote earlier,
cables must be inspected REGULARLY.
By means of X-ray.
Because often
the damage inside them
is not seen on the outside.

JMO

 

[PatLaurel]

"Carlos Mineiro Alves,
former president of the Portuguese Chamber of Engineers,
has no doubt that the direct cause of the tragedy was a broken cable.

Whoever he is, he wasn’t at the scene. Locals who have ridden that streetcar for years have speculated the exact same thing. You don’t have to be an engineer to guess that a broken cable might be involved in a streetcar incident.

I only trust law enforcement and official government sources to say what really caused the accident.
Of course, everyone is free to speculate...

MOO JMO

 

[PatLaurel]

Besides, IMO!!!
It is the most probable cause.

Without a supporting cable,
the heavy metal vehicle
(+ weight of all passengers)
started barreling like a rocket on a STEEP road.
And even brakes could not prevent the catastrophe.

As I wrote earlier,
cables must be inspected REGULARLY.
By means of X-ray.
Because often
the damage inside them
is not seen on the outside.

JMO

I don't think they inspect cables with X-Ray. The report only mentions "visual inspection" of both overhead aerial cables and underground (listed as fossa).
The last item in the report asks what resources were used, and the answer was just “no resources.”

 

[Seni]

Great that you bring us your perspective as a local @PatLaurel! I have been following PT news, ongoing investigation, thats it for the moment, like you say.

(OT, glad to see Luís Neves promoted, he was instrumental in the letters of request in the McCann case)

 

[PatLaurel]

Great that you bring us your perspective as a local @PatLaurel! I have been following PT news, ongoing investigation, thats it for the moment, like you say.

(OT, glad to see Luís Neves promoted, he was instrumental in the letters of request in the McCann case)

My pleasure. I’m usually pretty private about where I live, but I really can’t stand poor reporting (Daily Fail) or watching speculation being treated as fact.
Regarding Madeleine McCann case, I stopped following it after Inspector Gonçalo Amaral left the Polícia Judiciária. I fully support him and stand by his views 100%.

MOO JMO

 

[Dotta]

"Faces of the Lisbon tram tragedy: ​

Latest victims named ​

as it's revealed one casualty was crushed by speeding carriage ​

as it slammed into him before crashing into building."​

Faces of the Lisbon tram tragedy: Latest victims named

The famous yellow and white Elevador da Gloria was filled with locals and international tourists when it came off its rails and crashed into a hotel corner building, killing 16 people

www.dailymail.co.uk

https://twitter.com/x/status/1964192265317880096

RIP

 

[PatLaurel]

"Faces of the Lisbon tram tragedy: ​

Latest victims named ​

as it's revealed one casualty was crushed by speeding carriage ​

as it slammed into him before crashing into building."​

View attachment 612866

Faces of the Lisbon tram tragedy: Latest victims named

The famous yellow and white Elevador da Gloria was filled with locals and international tourists when it came off its rails and crashed into a hotel corner building, killing 16 people

www.dailymail.co.uk

https://twitter.com/x/status/1964192265317880096

View attachment 612868


RIP

The accident is already tragic enough on its own. But this poor woman... it hits even harder. She was just passing by and got crushed by the streetcar. Absolutely heartbreaking.

I’m revolted by all of this and truly hope those responsible are held accountable.

MOO JMO

 

[Dotta]

RIP

https://twitter.com/x/status/1964318215502172265

"To add to the tragedy,
it has been revealed by Portuguese news outlets on Saturday
that Mr Nelson may have initially been mistaken for the German father of a three-year-old child,
who were both riding the funicular along with his wife at the time.

The man, who has not been named,
was initially declared dead,
but it was confirmed on Friday he had been found recovering in hospital."

 

[PatLaurel]

The Aircraft and Railway Accident Prevention and Investigation Office (GPIAAF) will release an information note this Saturday on the initial findings about the derailment.
I’m especially curious about that “33-minute inspection”, which seems too short to thoroughly check 265 meters in both directions, considering that both overhead and underground cables need to be inspected.

GPIAAF adia para sábado nota sobre descarrilamento do Elevador da Glória

"Given that, as is public knowledge, the removal of the vehicles and debris involved in the accident continued throughout the night and early morning, and that the GPIAAF also had to monitor, this afternoon, additional investigations carried out by the Public Prosecutor's Office, which concluded recently, it is not possible to publish the Information Note today. It will be published tomorrow afternoon, Saturday,"

BBM

MOO JMO

 

[PatLaurel]

At 6:00 p.m., Carris trams stopped and honked their horns in honor of the victims of the accident at the Elevador da Glória.​

Às 18h00 os elétricos da Carris pararam e buzinaram em homenagem às vítimas do acidente no Elevador da Glória

The destination signs have been alternating between the route number and the word “Luto” (mourning) since the accident, as a tribute to the victims.

 

[PatLaurel]

I'm trying to access the report, but apparently the GPIAAF is down.

Relatório confirma que cabo do Elevador da Glória cedeu e guarda-freios acionou travões

Report confirms that the Elevador da Glória cable gave way and the brakeman applied the brakes​

In the report, the experts also indicate that the " brakes do not have sufficient capacity to stop the moving cabins without their empty masses being mutually balanced by the connecting cable." Therefore, "it does not constitute a redundant system in the event of a failure of this connection."

At the end of the report, the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft and Railway Accidents reinforces that it is not yet possible to draw any conclusions regarding the causes of the accident, considering that the information is incomplete because the investigation is still ongoing.

Auto-translated by Chrome

 

[Dotta]

I'm trying to access the report, but apparently the GPIAAF is down.

Relatório confirma que cabo do Elevador da Glória cedeu e guarda-freios acionou travões

Report confirms that the Elevador da Glória cable gave way and the brakeman applied the brakes​

In the report, the experts also indicate that the " brakes do not have sufficient capacity to stop the moving cabins without their empty masses being mutually balanced by the connecting cable." Therefore, "it does not constitute a redundant system in the event of a failure of this connection."

At the end of the report, the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft and Railway Accidents reinforces that it is not yet possible to draw any conclusions regarding the causes of the accident, considering that the information is incomplete because the investigation is still ongoing.

Auto-translated by Chrome

Exactly, unfortunately.
The mass of metal rushed down the steep slope without the balance provided by a cable.

The cables must be not only checked,
but replaced with new ones regularly.
They simply have no right to break even with a lot of overload.

JMO

 

[PatLaurel]

Further technical details in the article below.

Tragédia em 50 segundos: Guarda-freio do Elevador da Glória tentou acionar travões, mas cabo cedeu no ponto de fixação

According to the report, "it was immediately found that the cable connecting the two cabins had given way at its attachment point inside the upper beam of cabin No. 1," which derailed. "The remaining cable, the reverse flywheel, and the pulleys through which it runs were all lubricated and without any apparent anomalies."

The report states that "no valid conclusions can be drawn as to the causes of the accident, considering that the factual information presented is incomplete and can only be completed and subject to analysis during the investigation" and that "no guilt or responsibility should be presumed on the part of any organization or person involved in the occurrence".

 

[PatLaurel]

I’m not an expert in streetcar inspections, but when I saw that the inspection only took 33 minutes, it struck me as surprisingly brief for what I would expect to be a thorough process. From what I heard, the streetcar began its route normally, then came to a stop for an unknown reason. Shortly after, it started moving again, this time uncontrollably and at high speed.

Right now, it looks like sabotage has been ruled out, and they're still looking into whether it was a mechanical issue.

MOO JMO

Replying to myself for context and to clarify the bolded sentence:

The person who made this statement was in the other streetcar. When she said the streetcar stopped and then started moving at a high speed, she meant it was moving backwards. That was likely the moment when the cable gave way, as one car is pulled by the other. While one is descending, the other is ascending.

 

[vls12345]

https://www.counton2.com/news/local-news/a-college-of-charleston-instructor-was-killed-in-a-lisbon-portugal-streetcar-crash/

 

[Dotta]

Replying to myself for context and to clarify the bolded sentence:

The person who made this statement was in the other streetcar. When she said the streetcar stopped and then started moving at a high speed, she meant it was moving backwards. That was likely the moment when the cable gave way, as one car is pulled by the other. While one is descending, the other is ascending.

The cable is as strong
as its weakest point.

Safety of passengers has no price.
Strict inspections are a must.
And I don't mean only visual ones.
(As I've already pointed out earlier)

JMO

 

[PatLaurel]

The full report in case anyone is interested.

https://www.gpiaaf.gov.pt/upload/processos/d054239.pdf

 

[Seni]

The full report in case anyone is interested.

https://www.gpiaaf.gov.pt/upload/processos/d054239.pdf

Thanks. So the cable car's normal speed was 11.5 km per hour. At the moment of the first collision it was travelling at approx 60 km per hour. Must have been terrifying...

 

[PatLaurel]

I really don’t like poor journalism, and I like baseless claims even less. So I went and dug up some old articles about the "Elevador da Glória" and found one from January 22, 1966. It states that over 10,000 people used the elevator every day. That adds up to 3.65 million people a year, way more than the current estimates, and it totally contradicts what that Italian lady said about "excessive tourism".

This other post from one of the best blogs about Lisbon "of the Past", states the same and is dated Aug, 2015.

Abrigo e bilheteira do Ascensor da Glória

Making the connection between Av. da Liberdade/Restauradores and Rua de São Pedro de Alcântara/Bairro Alto is currently the busiest elevator in the city, transporting about three million passengers per year. Built by the Companhia dos Ascensores Mecânicos de Lisboa, according to Mesnier du Ponsard's project, and inaugurated in 1885, it was, among the elevators of Lisbon, the pioneer of electric traction, installed in 1914.

IMO, more than a case of "excessive tourism," it's maybe a case of inadequate inspections and lack of proper maintenance.

MOO JMO