Carris union leader urges end to outsourced fleet maintenance after Lisbon funicular crash

A year after the Gloria funicular derailment in Lisbon killed 16 people, a union leader is calling for the end of outsourced fleet maintenance at Carris, calling the continued externalization "extremely worrying." Manuel Leal of STRUP/Fectrans argues that past outsourcing decisions are among the indirect causes of the tragedy and criticizes Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas for insisting on the model. He says workers filed repeated complaints about maintenance needs before the September 3, 2025, accident, and that a requested meeting with Moedas was never granted. Leal advocates rebuilding Carris's internal workshop sector with dedicated teams, noting that the 2006-2007 dismantling forced out over 300 workers and broke generational knowledge. He claims current Carris president Rui Lopo shares these concerns, and that public tender rules prevent knowledge consolidation.