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Deadly Portugal funicular crash likely due to problems with cable, report says
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 7, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 7, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
A Lisbon funicular crash, linked to cable issues, resulted in 16 deaths and 22 injuries. A preliminary report highlights the cable failure.
LISBON (Reuters) -Problems with a cable likely caused a Lisbon funicular railwaypopular with tourists to hurtle down a hill, killing at least 16people and injuring another 22 when it crashed into a building, according to a preliminary report.
The yellow tram-like carriage, which carries people up and down a steep hillside in the Portuguese capital, hit a building after leaving the track on Wednesday, just metres from its twin at the bottom of a steep hill.
Portugal's Office for Air and Rail Accident Investigations on Saturday released its first investigative report into the crash.
The report said the cabins had travelled "not more than about six meters" when they "suddenly lost the balancing force provided by the cable connecting them."
"Cabin No. 2 suddenly reversed, its movement halting approximately 10 meters beyond due to its partial excursion past the end of the track and the burial of the underside of the trambolho (trolley) at the end of the cable trench," it added.
"Cabin No. 1, at the top of Calcada da Gloria, continued its downward movement, increasing its speed.
The report added: "The cabin's brakeman immediately applied the pneumatic brake and the hand brake to try to halt the movement. These actions had no effect in stopping or reducing the cabin's speed, and it continued accelerating down the slope."
The report added an examination of the wreckage showed "the connecting cable had given way" at the attachment point to the cabin at the top of the hill.
A final report will be published later.
(Reporting by Graham KeeleyEditing by Bernadette Baum)
Problems with a cable likely caused the funicular railway to lose its balancing force, leading to the crash.
At least 16 people were killed and another 22 were injured in the incident.
The report indicated that the connecting cable had given way at the attachment point to the cabin at the top of the hill.
The brakeman applied both the pneumatic brake and the hand brake in an attempt to halt the cabin's movement, but these actions were ineffective.
A final report on the investigation will be published later, following the initial findings released on Saturday.
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