New tender for maintenance of the Glória lift was cancelled in August due to price

The latest tender for the maintenance of the Elevador da Glória, which on Wednesday suffered an accident that caused a16 deaths, was cancelled by Carris a few days ago, as all bids received under the tender were above the budgeted amount.

According to the procedure published on the Vortal portal, the tender for the maintenance of four infrastructures – Ascensores da Bica, Lavra and Glória and Elevador de Santa Justa da Carris – was opened on 28 April this year and closed nearly four months later, without success.

“This opportunity was cancelled on 14/08/2025 at 5:05 p.m. and the official date of cancellation is 01/09/2025 at 5:16 p.m. for the following reason: Considering that the bids submitted by the competitors are higher than the base price, the decision not to award Process No. 046/2025 was approved, and the decision to contract was revoked, pursuant to the provisions of Article 79(1)(b) of the CCP,” reads the communication consulted by ECO.

The maintenance period stipulated in the tender was 36 months, i.e. three years, and had a base price, excluding VAT, of €1.9 million. In this year’s tender, competitors proposed amounts above the budget to carry out the work, which led to its formal cancellation in September. Carris president Pedro Bogas admitted to journalists that an external company has been responsible for maintaining the equipment in recent years and that these checks have been carried out. He identified the company as Main, which the Público newspaper had also previously reported as being responsible for this activity.

The last contract on the subject, signed in 2022 and renewable for up to three years, was concluded with MNTC – Serviços técnicos de engenharia, Lda, a company based in Monte da Caparica, for a value of €995,500. A monthly fee of €5,913.30 was stipulated for the Elevador da Glória alone. Main Maintenance Engineering is, according to the Expresso newspaper, the trade name of MNTC.

This company was once again interested in this contract, as it was one of two that requested additional clarification in this year’s tender.

On Wednesday evening, SIC Notícias reported, citing Carris, that a new contract has been in force since 1 September and that there has been no interruption in maintenance services. The television station also reported that this contract was awarded by direct agreement, following the cancellation of the aforementioned tender.

Late on Wednesday afternoon, Carris issued a statement guaranteeing that “monthly and weekly maintenance programmes and daily inspections” of the equipment in question “have been scrupulously complied with”. The company also said that general maintenance, which takes place every four years, had been carried out, while interim maintenance is carried out every two years – and that this had been done last year.

The derailment of the Elevador da Glória caused 16 deaths and 18 injuries, including five serious ones, confirmed INEM on Wednesday, after all the victims had been removed. The accident happened around 6 p.m., halfway along the 265-metre route connecting Restauradores to Jardim São Pedro de Alcântara in Lisbon.

The lift was completely destroyed after crashing into buildings along the route. The accident is believed to have happened after one of the cables on the lift, which can carry 43 people, broke. Carris, the company that manages the Elevador da Glória, assured the Lusa news agency that it had “activated all resources” and that its “priority is to monitor the situation and everyone involved”.