Portugal is in mourning after 16 people were killed and 21 injured when a funicular railway car derailed and crashed on the streets of Lisbon. Witnesses told local media the car appeared out of control as it sped downhill shortly after 6pm during evening rush hour on Wednesday. (Guardian 4 Sept).
The Glória system is made up of two streetcars running in parallel and hauled by steel cables: so as one descends, its weight pulls the other uphill. Witnesses told local media that they saw one of the streetcars careening down the hill, before crashing into a building where the road bends. (Guardian 4 Sept).
NB There are many other tram lines, with their bright yellow cars, plying the streets of Lisbon, apart from the 3 funicular lines. One of the most popular is Tram 28, which I’ve definitely travelled on. These lines go along roads that are not so steep as the funicular trams. It’s possible to download an audio guide to this route, and keep it on your phone, which I didn’t realise at the time I was in Lisbon.
As I watched the coverage of the accident on the TV news, I tried to recognise some of the places but the clips were too short. Nevertheless, I was transported back to my holiday and wondered if I'd had a lucky escape, although by 6.00 pm I would normally be back in my hostel, resting after a day's sightseeing.
This is what I wrote on my blog at the time:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This prompted me to look for my DVD Night Train to Lisbon.
I had watched it some years ago, before I went to Portugal, but seeing it again was a reminder of how little the narrow cobbled streets of Lisbon have changed over the years. It was worth seeing it again:
No comments:
Post a Comment