derails

Lisbon’s Gloria funicular derails: What we know about the cause and victims | Tourism News

At least 15 people were killed when Lisbon’s Gloria funicular railcar derailed and crashed, emergency services said.

Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa shared his condolences with the families affected by what he described as a tragedy.

The Portuguese government has announced a day of national mourning, while officials in Lisbon have declared three days of mourning in the capital city.

What happened in Lisbon?

At about 6:15pm local time (17:15 GMT), a carriage on Lisbon’s world-famous funicular electric railway derailed and crashed.

Witnesses said they heard a loud noise before one of the trams sped down a steep slope in the city, apparently out of control.

“It hit a building with brutal force and collapsed like a cardboard box; it had no brakes,” a witness told the AFP news agency.

Photos showed the tram carriage toppled on its side along the narrow road it usually travels. The sides and roof of the carriage were partly crumpled by the impact after it appeared to have struck a bend in the road at speed.

Local media reported that emergency crews responded quickly, deploying 62 rescuers and 22 support vehicles to help survivors trapped in the wreckage.

Police and firefighters work on the site of the Gloria funicular railway accident in Lisbon
An accident involving a funicular railcar caused several deaths and serious injuries in Lisbon, Portugal, on Wednesday [Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP]

Authorities said it was too early to determine the cause of the accident.

The Lisbon Firefighters Regiment reported that the crash was caused by a “cable that came loose” in the funicular system.

At least 15 people were killed and 18 others injured, five of them critically, according to the National Institute for Medical Emergencies.

Police and firefighters work on the site of the Gloria funicular
Police and firefighters work on the site of the Gloria funicular accident in Lisbon [Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP]

What is a funicular railway?

A funicular is a type of cable railway built to carry passengers up and down steep slopes.

It operates with two counterbalanced cars attached to opposite ends of the same cable: as one car ascends, the other descends, and the weight of the descending car helps pull the ascending car, making it highly efficient.

Funiculars are commonly found in hilly cities and tourist destinations where conventional trains or buses would struggle with steep gradients.

The Gloria funicular was opened in Lisbon in 1885 and electrified three decades later. It can carry 43 people, seated and standing. It is commonly used by the capital’s residents.

The driver of the Lavra funicular waves while steering it downhill through a narrow street to downtown Lisbon
The driver of the Lavra funicular waves while steering it downhill through a narrow street to downtown Lisbon, Portugal [File: Armando Franca/AP Photo]

Where exactly did the crash happen?

The crash took place on a popular tram line in the centre of Lisbon that connects the city’s downtown area near the Restauradores Square with the Bairro Alto (Upper Quarter), which is known for its vibrant nightlife.

The funicular derailed and crashed on Rua da Gloria, a well-known street in central Lisbon.

Gloria is one of three funicular lines operated by the municipal public transport company, Carris.

Carris said in a statement that “all maintenance protocols have been carried out”, with the last one taking place in 2022, and there were daily inspections.

According to a report by Spanish newspaper El Pais, workers had complained on several occasions about “poor maintenance” on the Gloria line.

The Gloria line transports about three million people annually, according to city officials.

Translation: The Glory Elevator derailed and overturned this Wednesday, near Avenida da Liberdade, in Lisbon. According to the municipal firefighters, the accident caused “many victims”, including serious injuries.

What do we know about the victims?

Portugal’s Ministry of Health said there were local and foreign surnames among the victims in the crash, but that their nationalities were not yet known.

There were no children among the 15 dead, it added.

In total, 18 people were injured. Of those, nine were taken to hospital, five of them in serious condition. A child was also injured.

The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that two of the injured are Spanish citizens, according to Europa Press.

What is the latest on the ground?

According to local reports, all victims were taken to hospitals by 8:30pm local time (19:30 GMT), and by 9pm (20:00 GMT), police and emergency personnel had cleared the crash site, where an investigation into the cause is under way.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the streets around the crash site filled with news media and hundreds of tourists stopping to capture images of the wreckage.

Lisbon’s City Council shut down the city’s other streetcars and called for urgent inspections, local media reported.

Police and firefighters work on the site of the Gloria funicular railway accident in Lisbon, on September 3, 2025. The accident of a funicular railway caused several dead and seriously injured in Lisbon, announced the Portugal's President of the Republic. (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP)
Police and firefighters at the site of the Gloria funicular railcar accident in Lisbon, on September 3, 2025 [Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP]



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Train derails in north central Texas; no injuries reported

Aug. 13 (UPI) — A train, seemingly transporting hazardous materials, has derailed in north-central Texas, according to responders who say no injuries have been reported.

The incident occurred at about 2 p.m. CDT Tuesday in Palo Pinto County, home to about 30,000 people and located 100 miles west of Dallas.

At least 30 rail cars of the train derailed in the incident, which prompted the deployment of multiple local and federal responders, including hazmat officials with train operator Union Pacific Railroad, Palo Pinto County Emergency Services District 1 said in a statement.

Officials said there have been no confirmed leaks of hazardous materials from the cars, though it was unclear what hazardous materials they contained.

“All personnel have been accounted for, and no injuries have been reported,” Palo Pinto County EMSD1 said. “The situation is currently stable, but not yet fully controlled.

As of 9 p.m. CDT, fire crews were continuing to extinguish small grass fires ignited by the derailment. Union Pacific was on scene with equipment and cranes, preparing to move the rail cars off that track, officials said, adding that the scene will remain active for several days.

Officials are urging residents to avoid the area.

The cause of the derailment was unclear.

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Passenger train derails in Germany, killing three and injuring dozens | Transport News

Officials say the crash killed the train’s driver and injured at least 50 others, with 25 of them in serious condition.

A passenger train carrying 100 people has derailed in Germany, killing at least three people and wounding dozens of others, according to officials.

The crash happened on Sunday evening in a forested area near the town of Riedlingen in southwestern Baden-Wurttemberg state, roughly 158km (98 miles) west of the city of Munich.

Charlotte Ziller, the district fire chief, told reporters that the three victims included the train driver and an employee of Germany’s state-owned rail operator, Deutsche Bahn.

She said 50 people were injured in the crash, 25 of them seriously.

Deutsche Bahn confirmed several deaths and numerous injuries, and said that two train carriages had derailed “for reasons yet unknown”.

Authorities were currently investigating the circumstances of the accident, the operator said, and traffic had been suspended over a 40km (25-mile) stretch of the route.

Thomas Strobl, the interior minister of the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, said severe storms had swept through the region earlier, and that investigators are looking at whether the rains had caused the accident.

“There have been heavy rains here, so it cannot be ruled out that the heavy rain and a related landslide accident may have been the cause,” he said.  “However, this is currently the subject of ongoing investigations.”

The train had been travelling from the town of Sigmaringen to the city of Ulm when it derailed.

a person wearing orange walks along train tracks in front of a derailed train
An emergency worker walks on railway tracks near a derailed passenger train near Riedlingen, Germany, on Sunday [Nonstopnews/EPA]

In a post on social media, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed his condolences to the families of those killed.

He added that he was in close contact with both the interior and transport ministers, and had asked them to “provide the emergency services with all the support they need”.

Footage from the scene of the accident showed yellow- and grey-coloured train carriages lying on their sides, as firefighters and emergency services tried to get to the passengers.

According to the local television station SWR, helicopters arrived shortly after the accident to transport the injured to hospitals in the area, and emergency doctors from nearby hospitals were alerted.

Richard Lutz, the chief executive of Deutsche Bahn, said he would visit the scene of the accident on Monday.

He said the operator was deeply shocked and dismayed by the accident, and thanked all the emergency services and volunteers on the site.

“My heartfelt sympathy and condolences go out to the relatives of the deceased. I wish the injured a quick and full recovery,” he added.

The rail operator has set up a free special hotline for those affected and their relatives, according to the official DPA news agency. Emergency chaplains and psychologists are also available for affected travellers and employees, it added.

German transport is regularly criticised by passengers for its outdated infrastructure, with travellers facing frequent train delays and various technical problems.

The government has pledged to invest several hundred billion euros over the next few years, in particular to modernise infrastructure.

In June 2022, a train derailed near a Bavarian Alpine resort in southern Germany, killing four people and injuring dozens.

Germany’s deadliest rail accident happened in 1998 when a high-speed train operated by state-owned Deutsche Bahn derailed in Eschede in Lower Saxony, killing 101 people.

Travel by train in Germany remains far safer than travelling by car, with 2,770 people killed in crashes on Germany’s roads in 2024, according to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office.

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Train derails near Russia-Ukraine border, killing at least seven | Russia-Ukraine war News

Train veers off the tracks in Russia’s Bryansk region after ‘illegal interference’ caused a bridge to collapse, officials say.

A passenger train has derailed in Russia, killing at least seven people and injuring 30 others, after colliding with a bridge that collapsed because of what local officials described as “illegal interference”.

The incident took place late on Saturday in Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine.

“Unfortunately, there are seven fatalities,” Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said in a post on Telegram.

“Thirty victims, including two children, were taken to medical facilities in the Bryansk Region,” Bogomaz said, adding that two were in serious condition.

The driver of the train was among those killed, according to Russian news agencies.

Rosavtodor, Russia’s federal road transportation agency, said the destroyed bridge passed above the railway tracks where the train was travelling.

The railway vehicle – which was going from the town of Klimov to the Russian capital, Moscow – veered off the tracks when it collided with the collapsed bridge near the village of Vygonichi, according to the RIA news agency.

The area lies some 100km (62 miles) from Russia’s border with Ukraine.

Rescuers were searching for passengers trapped inside the damaged train, while emergency accommodation was set up at a school in Vygonichi, RIA reported.

Moscow Railway, in a post on Telegram, said the bridge had collapsed “as a result of an illegal interference in the operation of transport”.

It did not elaborate further.

Russia’s Baza Telegram channel, which often publishes information from sources in the security services and law enforcement, reported, without providing evidence, that according to preliminary information, the bridge was blown up.

Explosions have derailed multiple trains, most of them freight trains, in Russian regions near Ukraine as fighting between Russia and Ukraine continues.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Two hours after the bridge collapse was reported, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that Ukraine’s air defence units were trying to repel a Russian air attack on the Ukrainian capital.

Earlier on Saturday, Russian drone and missile attacks killed at least two people in Ukraine, officials said.

Since the start of Russia’s invasion three years ago, there have been continued cross-border shelling, drone strikes and covert raids from Ukraine into Russia’s Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions, which border Ukraine.

United States President Donald Trump has urged Moscow and Kyiv to work together on a deal to end the war, and Russia has proposed a second round of face-to-face talks with Ukrainian officials next week in Istanbul.

Ukraine is yet to commit to attending the talks on Monday, saying it first needs to see Russian proposals, while a leading US senator warned Moscow it would be “hit hard” by new US sanctions.

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