A year after crash of an iconic Lisbon streetcar, a memorial but no promises for restored service

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Lisbon inaugurated a memorial Thursday to the 16 people killed in a funicular derailment a year ago, as questions persist about the safety of the city’s iconic hillside streetcars, which remain at a standstill. Near the crash site, a 150-year-old olive tree stood at the center of a ring of limestone blocks laid into the ground featuring the names of the victims. Foreign ambassadors laid wreaths and the Patriarch of Lisbon , a senior Catholic church official, offered a blessing. The accident was one of the Portuguese capital’s worst tragedies in recent memory and cast a shadow over the city’s ongoing tourism boom. The picturesque yellow streetcar, called a funicular because it travels up and down a steep hill in tandem with a second car, is a popular tourist attraction.

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