Major update on Lisbon funicular crash as report into incident that killed 3 Brits emerges

A newly-released report into the Lisbon funicular crash has confirmed that the cable of the line snapped and the brakeman activated the brakes. The first report by Portugal's Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft Accidents and Railway Accidents said the carriages had no travelled no further than six metres when they "suddenly lost the balancing force of the connecting cable".

Three Britons were among the 16 who died when the Glória funicular, a popular tourist attraction in the centre of the Portuguese capital, derailed and crashed into a building on Wednesday. British couple Kayleigh Smith, 36, and William Nelson, 44, both died in the incident. A third British victim has yet to be named.

The report found the brakeman immediately activated the pneumatic brake and manual brake but it had "no effect in reducing the vehicle's speed".

The funicular accelerated and crashed at around 37mph.

Local police said Portuguese, South Korean, Swiss, Canadian, Ukrainian, French and American nationals also died in the horror crash which the report said happened in 50 seconds.

Questions have been raised over the age and upkeep of the tram-like Glória funicular which was first opened in 1885.

However, its current form and configuration dates back to 1914 and has undergone "several" conservation and improvement projects during this time, the report noted.

It found that on evidence thus far, all maintenance was up to date.

A scheduled visual inspection had been carried out in the morning of the crash which "detected no anomalies in the vehicles' cable or braking systems".

However, the area where the cable broke is "is not visible without dismantling".

The broken cable was within its defined "useful life" of 600 days.

It had been in use for 337 days, meaning it had another 263 days to go before it required replacing.

"The operator of the system considers the defined useful life of the cable to have a significant safety factor," the report said.

Wreckage analysis showed the cables connecting the cabins had "given way" at its attachment point inside the upper trolley of Cabin No.1 (the carriage which crashed) at the top of the funicular.

The cabin derailed after about 170 metres due to its speed and began to roll, before hitting the wall of a building, the report noted.

The Glória funicular is 276 metres long and covers a 45-metre drop, with an average gradient of 18%.

It connects downtown Lisbon to the trendy Bairro Alto neighbourhood and the journey usually takes around a minute to complete.

The crash happened at around 6pm.

The funicular's other carriage, Cabin No. 2, was also affected by the cable issue and "suddenly reversed".

"Its movement halting approximately 10 meters beyond due to its partial excursion past the end of the track," the report said.

The exact number of people on board each cabin has not been determined.

Eighteen people were also injured, including five seriously, in the incident.

Investigators said "no valid conclusions" can be drawn from its first report.

A full preliminary report is expected within the next 45 days.