The President of the Lisbon City Council, Carlos Moedas, will not reappoint the current board of Carris, led by Pedro Bogas.
The decision follows the preliminary conclusions of a report by the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft and Railway Accidents (GPIAAF).
Moedas has deemed the array of technical failures uncovered over several years as “quite serious,” primarily involving the last two administrations.
Consequently, the recently re-elected mayor “will not reappoint the current board of Carris and is focused on restoring the company’s trust and credibility as swiftly as possible.”
The mandate of Pedro Bogas, facilitated by the Socialist Party in May 2022, concludes this year.
The preliminary report issued on Monday, October 20, by the GPIAAF, revealed that the cable connecting the two cabins of the Glória funicular, which broke at its attachment point causing a derailment, did not meet Carris specifications and was not certified for passenger transportation.
The report stated, “The use of cables extensively non-compliant with the specifications and usage restrictions resulted from various accumulated failures in their acquisition, acceptance, and application process by CCFL [Companhia Carris de Ferro de Lisboa], whose internal control mechanisms were insufficient or inadequate to prevent and detect such failures.”
The investigation noted that Carris sent suppliers specifications for cables meant for the Santa Justa lift, differing from those for the Glória funicular, failing to identify or explain the mistake.
According to GPIAAF, “For reasons Carris could not explain during the investigation, and without documented evidence in supplier consultations, the specification provided by the Directorate of Maintenance of the Electric Mode (DME) for one of the cables of the Santa Justa elevator was adopted for the cables for the Glória and Lavra funiculars by simply changing the diameter.”
The preliminary results from the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft and Railway Accidents highlight, among other conclusions, that the cable installed was “not suitable” for the system used in the Glória funicular.
Carlos Moedas issued a statement on the same day in response to the report, noting, “Contrary to the politicization generated during the campaign, this report reaffirms that the unfortunate Glória funicular tragedy was due to technical causes, not political ones.”
The preliminary findings prompted several councilors to demand the resignation of the Carris administration. The entity later responded in a statement, suggesting a lack of awareness concerning issues with the tram cables, attributing the responsibility to the previous administration.
“At this point, it’s not possible to determine if the cable non-compliance is significant to the accident,” explaining that the purchasing process of the cables, “with alleged non-compliances affecting the replacement process, occurred under a mandate prior to the current board.”
It’s pertinent to remember that on September 3, this year, the derailment of the Glória funicular in downtown Lisbon resulted in the death of 16 people.
