On the rails again: Slow train to Lisbon

Lisbon and the world of funiculars

Lisbon is built on seven hills. Scaling the hills is not always easy. There are flights of stairs. The pavement is uneven. The white cobblestones, when wet, turn into slides when you do not watch out. The magistrate knows about the danger. Old people or ignorant foreign tourists fall, break their bones and complain. Therefore upon renewal of the pavement the white stones were interspersed with black ones from different material which is not slippery.

Waiting queue of tourists at the tram terminal

But outside the touristic center the sidewalks are full of potholes or parts mended with asphalt. Climbing up the hills is even more tiring under the dome of heat which covers Lisbon most of the year. While walking, you sweat, and when you sit down in the shade for a rest, you shiver in the wind. Not surprising that the old fashioned trams, elevators and funiculars are very popular with tourists to avoid the sudorific climbs up the hills.

The conductors always conserve a smile

A day ticket for the public transport sets you back 7.10 €. If you find a sales point. I find one at the railway station. However, even with a ticket, riding is not easy. At the terminal stations of the tram are long queues. The old trams have no air condition and ventilation is only offered by opening the windows. Nevertheless they are popular trams with people, who, at home, where the temperatures usually are more moderate, constantly complain about missing or malfunctioning air condition. If they ever take a tram at home.

Finally boarding

The conductor takes off when all seats are taken. The others in the queue have to wait for the next one. However, if you brave the heat to walk to the following stop the tram will stop for you without a long wait. Of course you won’t find a seat since all were occupied at the terminal.

It is nice to observe the others when you have already got a seat

Along narrow alleys with winding curves and steep grades the tram passes along old, dilapidated houses, cave-like little shops and cafes. There are no parking spots, crowded and poor, outdated public transport and sidewalks full of decay, dog poop and dirt. All things which, in particular, German visitors wouldn't want at home. Millions come anyway. Here it is considered a contribution to the romantic atmosphere.

Inside a tram

I join the long queue at the Ascensor de Bica. Ahead of me in the line a group of Chinese girls take selfies. I do not have to wait for long. An announcement that the funicular is out of order and will not run for a while disperses the crowd.

Ascensor de Bica

The Santa Justa lift is a conventional elevator with two cabins going up and down. Only one cabin is operating. Although the queue is short it takes an hour to get into the lift for the short ride of less than a minute. While waiting, I am forced to admire the larger-than-life advertisement for a modern cafe, showing the production of disgustingly sweet looking pastries. A gigantic female mouth painted in bright red enthusiastically bites into it again and again. Juice seems to drip from lips and pastry. I feel sick and take a sip of my lukewarm water.

The platform at Ascensor de Bica

The elevator is a 45-meter-high iron structure designed by Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard and opened in 1902. Originally it was powered by a steam engine, later it was converted to electricity. The upper platform offers panoramic city views. The iron tower, upper bridge and cabins are built in richly decorated Art Nouveau style. The mixture of ornaments is taken from moorish castles and gothic churches.

Upper access to the Ascensor de Bica

On top a long bridge connects the exit at the top platform of the elevator to the Bairro Alto. At the bottom you are first required to mount a flight of stairs before you get to the elevator. Handy if you want to sit down while waiting, impractical for those with roller cases and strollers. Nevertheless have some parents with strollers managed to get into the cabin. The short ride is handled by an operator who has the pleasure of a seat.

Summit station of the Ascensor de Gloria

Later, on the way down, I take the Ascensor de Gloria. In contrast to the Santa Justa lift this is a true funicular. First opened in 1885 and electrified in 1915, the Gloria funicular is one of three similar lines in Lisbon. The others are the funicular de Pica which was out of order on the day of my visit, and the funicular de Lavra ascending the facing slope of the valley.

Inside of the cabin of the ascensor de Gloria

The common characteristic of funiculars is a cable, which has the two cabins attached to its opposite ends. Both cars move at the same time in opposite directions. Energy is conserved by compensating the weight of the car while traveling uphill by the car downhill. The cable moves around a flywheel, which at the funicular de Gloria is hidden under the staircase above the upper terminal of the lift. One can see the cables disappear in holes under the lowest step.

Boarding at the upper terminal of ascensor de Gloria

In Lisbon, each of the two cars of the funicular travels on its own track. The tracks are embedded in the road surface. The cable moves in a submerged shaft in the road in the middle between the tracks. The shaft for the cable is lined with Z profiles being also used for braking. Very few other funiculars have a track which disappears in the road surface. The cable cars in San Francisco could be compared.

Gellert elevator in Budapest

An example for another double track funicular is the Gellert lift to the castle in Budapest. In 1870 it was the second funicular built in Europe. It climbs a height of 51 m over 95 m with a grade of 31.75 %. After it was destroyed during world war II it was rebuilt in 1986 maintaining the historic appearance with the double track. In contrast to Lisbon it has an open track bed and free running cable. Also the flywheel can be seen turning in the top station.

Upper terminal and drivewheel of the Gellert elevator

Since funiculars often are built in mountainous terrain with little space for parallel tracks a single track line would be advantageous. To let the cabin in the opposite direction pass a short double-track loop section is necessary. The problem was that the cable between the tracks does not allow points. An intermediate solution was to built funicular with a common central third rail used by both cabins. Later the Abt switch was invented. It does not have movable parts. Moreover the crossing system requires that the wheels on each side of the vehicle are different. The outer wheel of each cabin has double flanges to keep the track. The other wheel has a broad, flat surface without flanges. It can travel across the gaps needed for the cable to pass through the switch.

Schlossbergbahn in Graz

A particularly impressive funicular is the Schlossbergbahn in Graz in Austria built in 1894. With a track length of only 0,212 km it covers a height difference of 108.95 m with a grade of 599 ‰. Originally it was double tracked, but both cabins used a common center rail. In 1962 it was rebuilt and got a passing loop with Abt switches. At the same time the Riggenbach rack brake was removed. While the modern cabins ride around the Schlossberg in a graceful curve they offer a spectacular view of the city’s old town.

Funicular to the monastery at Madonna del Sasso in Locarno

The funicular to the monastery at Madonna del Sasso in Locarno was opened in 1906. With a track length of 811 m it rises 173 meters with a maximum grade of 30%. Part of the line is in a tunnel and part on a viaduct. Building a double track line would have been much more expensive. Therefore a passing loop with Abt switches was installed from the beginning. It is powered electrically by an engine located in the upper terminal.

Passing loop and control stand of the funicular to the monastery at Madonna del Sasso in Locarno

Funiculars usually need some backup power to operate the railway when the lower car traveling uphill is heavier than the upper car traveling downhill. In Lisbon that seems to be the case most of the time since the majority of tourists likes to avoid the steep climb up but walks the easier reverse direction downhill.

The viaduct at the lower terminal of the Nerobergbahn in Wiesbaden

There are different solutions for the drive of the system. The most traditional is filling the upper car at the top terminal with water until it is heavier than the lower car. It then moves downhill by gravity while pulling the other car up without additional power. There are very few examples of these types of funiculars left. One is the charming Nerobergbahn opened in 1888 in Wiesbaden in Germany. The operator of the lower car tells the operator of the upper car how many passengers he is about to move up the hill. Then they fill a tank at the top terminal with water until the upper car is heavier and able to pull the lower car up 438 m over an incline of 19 % and a height difference of 83 m.

The blue pipe filling the upper cabin with water to gain weight for the way back down

The Nerobergbahn also preserves the three rail arrangement which avoids the use of an Abt switch which had not yet been invented when it was built. Since there was no power supply a Riggenbach rack rail is used for braking. As such it runs without an accident since 137 years.

The loop with a center third rail for both cabins and Riggenbach rack brake rails

A similar old-fashioned solution was used for the Malbergbahn opened in 1887 in Bad Ems in Germany. Two cabins ran on double tracks. A reservoir at the top terminal supplied the water. The line was 520 m long and with an incline of 54.5% covers a height difference of 260 m. It ran without accident until 1979 when a technical inspection revealed serious defects and the popular railway was taken out of service since the owner, the town, did not have enough funds for the restoration. It still was declared a technical monument. The lower terminal was restored and the lower car turned into a stationary cafe. The upper terminal and the cabin left there are vandalized. The hotel, cafe and animal park at the top of the mountain, which could only be reached by the railway or by hiking, had to close.

The ruined Malbergbahn in Bad Ems

Ironically, there is neither an adequate water source at the top of the Neroberg nor the Malberg: the water first has to be pumped up to the upper terminal from where it is supplied to the upper car.

The enormously steep Kurwaldbahn in Bad Ems

Bad Ems also still has an operating funicular. The Kurwaldbahn covers a height of 123 m over a length of 220 m with a respectable maximum grade of 78 %. It was built in 1979. Operation is automatic, there is no brakeman on the cabin but an operator in the top station.

The Lugano Città–Stazione funicular

The Lugano Città–Stazione funicular connects the Piazza Cioccaro in the historic city center with the main railway station of Lugano. With 2.4 million passengers in 2007 it is one of the busiest funicular lines in Switzerland. It was water powered when it opened in 1886, but converted to electrical power in 1955. It climbs 50 m over a length of 206 m with a passing loop.

Another advantage of a funicular is that it is very silent. Therefore there is no problem to pass along and even through buildings in the middle of a city

Most of the other funiculars are pulled up the hill via their umbilical cord, the cable connecting the cars. In this case the cord runs over an arrangement of flywheels and pulleys at the upper station while some kind of stationary power source, usually an electric motor, is applied. A typical example are the cable cars in San Francisco. Originally a steam engine operated a drive wheel to pull the cable. Later it was replaced by an electrical engine. The system of flywheels and pulleys is good visible in the powerhouse and shed. The difference with an ordinary funicular is that the San Francisco cable cars are propelled by an endless cable which circulates in the shaft under the street surface with constant speed. The car stops when the grip to the cable is released. When everything goes well, funicular cabins are permanently attached to their common cable.

Shed and power station of the San Francisco cable cars

The flywheels driving the cables of the San Francisco caable cars

The town most famous for its elevators is Valparaiso. There, a separate second cable attached to a winding drum pulls the lower car uphill while the second car is lowered on the cable connecting the cars via a flywheel. Again, the power source is stationary.

Pantogrpahs on the top of the cabin of the Ascensor de Lavra

Unlike these traditional funiculars, the two cars on the Lisbon funiculars are not passively pulled uphill by external power but it is a so called self propelled funicular where each cabin is powered by electric motors. The electricity is supplied by a pantograph from an overhead catenary.

The straightforward brakeman's seat on the Lavra Ascensor

The funicular de Gloria travels over 276 m down a drop of 45 m over an average gradient of 18 %. The "cabinas" (cabins) each weigh approximately 14 tons and hold a maximum of 42 people, 22 of which seated, plus the driver (called "guarda-freio” - brakeman). Each cabin consists of a truck and metal chassis with a carbody which is basically built from wood covered in thin sheet metal. This construction reflects the classic standards of railway cars at the time of its entry into service in 1885.

Switch of the electricity supply

Each of the two cabins is equipped with two 18 kW electric motors, which, through the wheels and their adhesion to the rails, provide the necessary tractive force to overcome the weight difference between the vehicles resulting from their respective passenger loads and the resistance of the system itself. The system's four motors (two in each cabin) are all electrically connected in series so that the two cabins and their connecting cable only start moving when the control system in each cabin is moved to the drive position by the respective brakeman.

Handbrake

Funiculars operate on steep grades. An efficient brake system seems to be essential. Many of the steep old funiculars, like the Nerobergbahn, the Malbergbahn and most of the elevators of Valparaiso have brakes operating on a Riggenbach rack system. Between the rails is a ladder-like rack into which the brake grips in case of emergency. Such a system is only possible when the track is open. In Lisbon, where rails and cable shaft are submerged under street level an open rack cannot be applied.

Acsensor Cordillera in Valparaiso

Due to its propulsion with a separate cable the Valparaiso cable cars have an additional dimension of security. A brake working on wheels or the rails after a break in both cables would probably just cause the cabin to derail. Since the elevators are virtually vertical the cabin would literally fall down the slope. Therefore it seems reassuring that there is also a Riggenbach rack brake. The photo of the renovated Baron elevator shows the brake mechanism above the Riggenbach rack. It also shows the double cable.

Ascensor Baron. The breaking mechanism is clearly visible on the frame

A closer inspection shows that the operation of the rack system on most of the Valparaiso lines is questionable. The cabins of the old Artilleria elevator which offers a spectacular view over the port of Valparaiso seem to lack the braking mechanism although the rack is present. A picture from 2008 shows that the Florida elevator was missing the Riggenbach rack rail altogether. Many of the elevators have meanwhile been renovated or stopped until a restoration can be carried out.

In 2008 Ascensor Florida lacked the Riggenbach rack brake

Indeed, on October 9., 2014, just three days after reopening after a renovation of 15 month, the Artillery elevator was destroyed after a cable had been cut. Although the car fell down several meters there were no injuries.

Acsensor Artilleria

Valparaiso’s Las Cañas Elevator came to an abrupt end on June 24, 1980. It had been opened in 1925 with an elevation gain of 125 m by a grade of 50 %. The shaft of one of the winding drums broke. Both cables failed. One of the cabins fell 30 meters down and destroyed the lower station, resulting in three serious injuries. The other car fell 70 meters, but had no passengers.

Acsensor Villasecca

The Villasecca elevator is one of the most spectacular of Valparaiso. It was opened in 1907 and covers a height difference of 150 m on a trestle crossing a steep street. On Friday, November 10, 1961, the two cabins collided in the middle of the line since the wheels had not been properly fixed to their axles. One cabin fell ten meters onto the road below. It was empty. The other, with four praying passengers, remained clinging to its rack. The passengers were rescued by firefighters from the roof of a neighboring house. The elevator is under renovation since 2006.

Flywheel and winding drum of the Cordillera lift. The two cables are clearly visible

The doubtful state of the rails caused an accident on the Cerro Concepción elevator on August 20, 2009 when one of the cars derailed, but did not fall down. Another accident on the same elevator happened on February 1., 2020, when five people were injured. An electrical fault affected the brakes, causing a rapid, uncontrolled movement.

The Artilleria elevator on his hopeful way up....

On January 6. 2025, an accident happened at the Baron elevator when the car crashed down. Nobody was injured.

The Santo Domingo elevator ... a closer look reveals the claws of the braking mechanism on the lower frame

However, even when the cabin moves upwards it can get out of control. That happened at the Cordillera elevator where the cabin ended up hitting the upper station.

The impressive ascensor Lecheros when it still travelled up and down its trestle

In a certain sense a funicular can be compared to a track-less cable car. When the cabin is only floating through the air without contact to the ground there is of course no rail to apply a brake to. When the funiculars is regarded as a cable car (also legally) it is therefore possible to only have an external brake system which works on the flywheel and the cable connecting the cabins. If there is no other brake on the cabins such an external brake, like with an air bound cable car, would not be able to stop a cabin from racing down after the cable is broken.

Oberweissbacher Bergbahn in Germany

One example is the Oberweissbacher Bergbahn in Germany which covers a height difference of 323 m over a distance of 1.351 km and an average incline of 25%. It is the only funicular operated by Deutsche Bahn. The brakes are in the engine house. There is no brake on the cars. In case of a break in the cable at least one of the cars would run down the hill.

Passing loop of the Oberweissbacher Bergbahn

The Angels flight elevator in Los Angeles, California, was opened in 1901 and covered a vertical gain of 29 m over a distance of 91 m. It first operated like a conventional funicular with two cabins connected via a common cable. The cabins used a common third central rail thus avoiding Abt switches in the passing loop. This worked fine until 1969 when the elevator was closed for redevelopment of the site. It was opened again in 1996. However, the reopened elevator had a different arrangement where both of the cabins had their own separate haulage system which connected to a service break by a gear train.

The second car on the Oberweissbacher Bergbahn is constructed in a way that it can transport a railway car

On February 1st, 2001, the upper car suddenly raced down and hit the second cabin in the lower half of the line. There were no emergency brakes on the cabins, but only on the spool at the top station. One passenger was killed and 7 injured. The reason had been the failure of the gear train which caused the cable to slacken and let the car loose. The brakes at the spool were not operative. A subsequent investigation was unable to identify another funicular worldwide that operated without either a safety cable or track brakes on the cabins.

The lower terminal of the Burgbergbahn in Dresden

Most funiculars have one or more brakes working with a claw like gripping mechanism on the rail. On railways with Abt points these safety brakes act on the rail on which the double-flange wheels run. In the past, the rail heads were often machined into wedge-shaped sections, so-called wedge-head rails, to prevent the wagons from being derailed when the safety brakes were applied. A photo at https://www.funimag.com/funimag02/BRAKES1.HTM shows the three pairs of jaws for the emergency brakes at a ruined funicular cabin.

The lower tunnel of the Burgbergbahn

In 1895 a funicular railway traveling up 95 m over a length of 547 m with a maximum grade of 29.8 was opened in Dresden. At the lower terminal the cabin immediately enters the Burgbergtunnel with a length of 96 m. The railway has a passing loop with Abt switches in the middle of the line, on a bridge 102 m long. Shortly before the arrival at the upper terminal the cabin passes the Prinzeß-Louisa-tunnel of 54 m long.

The passing loop on a bridge of the Burgbergbahn

The railway is operated electrically via flywheels and pulleys. During normal operation brakes operate on the specific brake discs mounted on the flywheel and brake the cable. In case of a break in the cable the cabins have independent brakes which automatically stop the cabins.

The upper terminal of the Burgbergbahn

The third oldest funicular in Spain runs in San Sebastian since 1912. It climbs a height of 151 m with an incline between 48-57% over a length of 312 m. The track is still made up of rails with triangular heads to facilitate the operation of the emergency brake on the cars.

The Igueldo funicular in San Sebastian

The installation has a control station located at the lower station, from which the manual control and braking system are regulated. The cabins have two braking systems (service and emergency) that are not related to the rest of the installation's braking systems working on the cable. Both devices operate using caliper-type mechanisms through shoes that act directly on the rail. The handbrake is activated by turning the handle clockwise; the emergency brake, on the other hand, is a Ruprecht type and comes into operation as soon as the tension on the car cable is removed. In this case, the counterweights are released, and as they fall, they release the springs and calipers, which are tensioned against the rail.

The passing loop and cabin of the Igueldo funicular

The impressive grade of the Igueldo funicular

Neighboring Bilbao with its steep slopes and coastal cliffs has a number of impressive funiculars. Most iconic is the Artxanda funicular railway. Inaugurated in 1915 it links Campo Volantín (on the river) with Monte Artxanda, a hill with some of the best views of Bilbao. In 3 minutes it climbs 770 m. In all those years it only stopped running twice: after its tracks and station had been bombed during the siege of Bilbao in the Civil War, and in 1976 after an accident caused by a change of cables. However, nobody was seriously injured.

The entrance to the Artxanda funicular railway in Bilbao

However, Bilbao also has a couple of more recent elevators like the Ereaga lift in Getxo and the ascensor de Iturribide from 2015.

The ascensor de Iturribide

Ereaga lift in Getxo

Being a conventional public lift the Begõna elevator from 1949 very much resembles a more modern version of the Santa Justa lift in Lisbon.

The Begõna elevator

Although no funicular, most special is the Bizkaia Bridge at the mouth of the Nervion River. It is the world's oldest transporter bridge and was built in 1893,

Bizkaia Transporter Bridge

Since the rails of the Lisbon funiculars are submerged in the street they can not be used for a clamp like brake. A different way had to be found. Each cabin has two break systems: a conventional manual brake operating with a brake shoe on the wheels and a pneumatic brake operating by a lever system against the Z profiles of the shaft in which the cable connecting the two cabins runs.

The Gloria funicular ready for departure at the upper terminal

In case of a break in the cable connecting the cabins the electricity source is automatically interrupted. The electric engines moving the cars upward are shut off. At the same time the pneumatically operated lever operates the brakes against the flange of the Z-profiles, embedded in the pavement.

The cabins of the Gloria funicular pass each other

In 2023, when I first boarded the Gloria elevator, I did not know anything about the functioning of the Lisbon elevators. The cabin including truck and wheels were covered in graffiti. Although some additional paint should not be a safety risk the overall appearance was one of neglect.

Boarding of the lower cabins of the Gloria funicular

There were few people boarding the cabin on its way down. Eventually the brakeman boarded. He only has the electricity controller and a handbrake for operation. When both brakemen switch on the controller the cabin starts to move. With a maximum operating speed of 11,5 km/h it takes only a little over a minute to complete the journey. Halfway down the two cabins pass each other on their separate tracks. In the lower part the line follows a bend in the street to the right before arriving at the lower terminus where a big crowd of people is waiting for the trip uphill.

Lower terminal of the Ascensor de Lavra

Not far away, across the street, is the Ascensor de Lavra. It is in a similar state as the Acensor de Gloria. However, nobody is waiting here although the lift looks much like the popular ascensor de Gloria. The brakeman helps a handicapped woman into the high cabin. With the two of us, the vehicule starts moving uphill following a graceful bend of the street.

Interior of the cabin of the Ascensor de Lavra

It is hot and I feel sick, either from the heat or from my lunch, which included some strange Corned Beef. I walk to the terminus of tram number 28 at Moniz which would be able todrop me somewhere close to my apartment. There I wait in a long line of tourists. I surrender since I don’t feel able to manage the slope towards my destination. I spent the previous evening with a Portuguese friend and maybe we had a bit too much to drink.

Passing of the cabins of the Ascensor de Lavra

A picture with the long queue of waiting passengers is the first thing you see if you look into Google street view at the Praça Martim Moniz tram stop. The faces are blurred. They all disappear in a mass of dressed bodies. For me, it eventually takes 40 min of waiting until I finally get onto one of the small trams.

Passing of the cabins of the Ascensor de Lavra

On the walk to my apartment I consider to buy a package of chinese instant noodle soup at one of those little shops of owners of unclear origin and spend the evening at home. But after some rest I decide to go out anyway and look for a restaurant. There seem to be plenty in the direction of Praça Martim Moniz.

Cabin of the Ascensor de Lavra at the upper terminal

On my way to Lisbon I had a stop in the quiet little town of Abrantes. A man in the station had warned me to be careful in the streets of Lisbon. Don’t wear a camera, he said. It would be full of muggers and pickpockets. On my way to the next tram stop an African Portuguese starts to talk to me. He ask me to take his picture. The prejudice has settled and I am careful. But he really only wants to see his face on the screen of my camera.

Detail of one of the cabins

When I walk down the street after leaving the tram a black drug dealer approaches and whispers the word “cocaine” into my ears. I reply by asking him loud and clearly whether he does not know that what he is proposing is illegal and bad. He recoils. I hurry to get away before the whole crowd of scavengers hiding in the dark pounce on me. Fortunately nobody is alone around here.

Waiting queue at the terminal stop of tram 28

For a tourist, one of the principles to select a restaurant is to never go where some thug wants to drag you inside. I go against my own principles and let an Indian drag me into a restaurant serving authentic Portuguese food because I'm simply too tired to resist. I immediately regret it when I see the plastic-wrapped menu. The tasteless fish soup is okay, but the main course is a mess of meat, egg, rice, and fries. The meat is too tough to chew. The PIN machine malfunctions when paying. The Indian waiter babbles the German world "Trinkgeld". When he insists with “tip” in English I tell him that I do not need his advice about a giving a tip and that a repeated request is not helpful in that process.

Only a museum is left of the trams of Coimbra

Luckily, the tram is still running for the return trip, and there's no queue. The dark streets are empty. Homeless sleep in the porches. I feel sick and have diarrhea. In my apartment, I grab a glass of ORS.

Elevador do Mercado in Coimbra

Lisbon is not the only place in Portugal where you can find funiculars. Of the former rail network of Coimbra, which also used to have a tram line, only the Elevador do Mercado, built in 2001, remains. It is not really a funicular. It connects the D. Pedro V Municipal Market to Rua Padre António Vieira, on a mixed route consisting of a vertical elevator for the first 20 m and an inclined elevator to the top, at 51 m, with only one cabin installed in each segment.

Funicular dos Guindais in Porto

In Porto, Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, who also was responsible for the elevators in Lisbon, built the Funicular dos Guindais. With the help of a steam engine it climbed 80 m with a maximum incline of 49 % over a distance of 412 m. It was originally opened in 1891. Already in 1893 one of the cabinbs crashed down into the lower platform. By miracle, the driver and a child on board survived with injuries. The system had two distinct types of brakes: one for rapid speed reduction in case of a malfunction and another for immobilization. In the event of cable failure, the braking system would engage automatically to prevent derailment. Obviously it did not work.

Funicular dos Guindais

A modern version of the elevator was only reopened in 2004. more than a 100 years after its closure after the accident. It now climbs 61 m with a maximum incline of 36.1 %. The upper 90 m of the track length of 281 m are in a tunnel. There is no driver on the cabins, which have self-leveling platforms to compensate for the variation in grade.

Passing loop and self-levelling cabin of the Funicular dos Guindais in Porto

Traditionally, funiculars are regarded as very safe means of transportation. If something goes wrong there usually are very few fatal injuries as can be seen from the examples with the accidents described above of the badly maintained Valparaiso elevators. Nevertheless, the accident with the Funicular dos Guindais in 1893 was not the only one in Portugal. On May 7th, 2018, a car derailed on the Gloria elevator in Lisbon due to insufficient wheel maintenance. There were no injuries.

Tracks of the Funicular dos Guindais in Porto

On June 21st 2000 the funicular at the Mtatsminda (Saint) mountain in Tbilisi, Georgia, built in 1905, derailed when the cabin was only 20 m up the hill and on its way down crashed in a post. Eight of the twenty Japanese tourists riding in the cabin were injured, five serious enough for a stay in a Tbilisi hospital.

Even the trams of Lisbon master respectable grades

On April 2nd 2004 three people were killed and six injured in Yerevan, Armenia, when the cabin of the funicular railway between downtown and Nor Nork fell to the ground. The other car which started sliding towards the center did not fall down due to braking system

In October 1996 a British passenger was killed on the Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec. The cable had snapped and the emergency brake failed to stop the cabin before it crashed into the lower station. The funicular was reopened in 1998 as an inclined elevator with two independent cabins.

In the streets of Lisbon

On June 27th, 2007 the East Hill Lift in Hastings, UK, had an accident due to brake failure during a fierce storm. The rope did not break. There was nobody in the cabins.

Trams in the streets of Lisbon

Fortunately there are also many examples where the brakes work. On August 19th 2022 the carriage of the Central Tramway in Scarborough built in 1881 came to a halt in mid-journey after the safety control system detected a failure. 27 passengers were left trapped in the tram and were rescued by emergency crews using a rope kit.

Trams in the streets of Lisbon

On July 25, 2006, the cable went out of the grooves of the 3 big pulleys of the Cassarate - Monte Brè funicular in Switzerland. The cabins were not held by the cable anymore and started to run down the slope. The emergency brakes were able to stop the cabins and 27 passengers were evacuated. Nobody was injured.

Trams in the streets of Lisbon

On December 6th, 2015, one cabin of the funicular railway in Tignes unhooked from the rest of the structure in the middle of a tunnel. The passengers were evacuated.

The view from the roof of the Church of St. Vincent de Fora shows why Lisbon needs funiculars

After my visit in 2023 the Lisbon funiculars got a makeover. All the graffiti disappeared and the cabins were painted in the scheme most of the Lisbon trams carry. On 3 September 2025, as usual the cabins waited for passengers at their terminal stops in the early evening sun. Cabin 1, at the top of Calçada da Glória and no. 2 below, near Restauradores.

The hills of Lisbon

At 6.03 pm the cabins began their well-practiced journey. They had traveled not more than about six meters when, as later turned out, the cable connection in the upper car #1 ruptured. Consequently the weight compensation provided by the cable was lost. As intended, the rupture of the cable also must have interrupted the electricity supply to the cabins engines. Both cabins rushed down the hill. For cabin #2 at the lower end it was only a short journey. Pulling down the cable behind it came to a halt slightly beyond its terminal station.

In the streets of Lisbon

Cabin #1, however, almost was at the summit. Without the retaining force of the weight of the other cabin at the other end of the cable it came down the slope at increasing speed. At that point the pneumatic brake of the car should have had been automatically activated. It did not. In the few remaining seconds the brakeman tried to apply the pneumatic brake and the hand brake to halt the movement. However, the cabin kept accelerating. In the bend of the track the cabin derailed and smashed into the building in the outside of the curve.

In the streets of Lisbon

Cabin #1 carried 39 passengers. 16 people including the conductor were killed in the accident and 21 injured, five of them seriously. The high number of victims is probably also due to the historic wooden car body. The number of causalities in railway accidents was largely reduced when the wooden car bodies started to disappear in fast trains during the first half of the 20th century.

Although the preliminary report cited below was quickly issued, the reasons for the rupture of the cable and the malfunctioning of the brakes are still unknown. The Lisbon funiculars will be out of service until the reasons for the accident are known and reliable safety measures provided.