A QUICK thinking tourist train driver saved his passengers from a possible serious accident on Sunday afternoon by deliberately driving into a small cliff wall to stop the vehicle that had started an uncontrollably speedy descent downhill in Carvoeiro.
Local resident Philippa Ward told The Resident: “Only a strong and well-built wall stopped the train from plummeting 50 metres down the cliff face. The train had three full carriages with Portuguese young and old and the brakes could not hold its rapid descent down the Rampa da Nossa Sra da Encarnação.
She added: “Hearing the screams from passengers as the carriages scraped the tarmac road, the driver was very courageous and took the necessary precaution of deliberately driving the engine into the cliff wall, narrowly missing a parked car by inches. The only damage was a knocked wing mirror.”
After the incident, in which no one was injured, the passengers got off the train and gradually wandered off after the GNR arrived to take statements from the driver and witnesses.
According to Philippa Ward, the train was subsequently pulled back up the road by a tow truck, until straight, before having its brakes tested and being allowed to travel at its own pace down to the town centre.
At the time The Resident went to press on Wednesday, the GNR were not available to comment about the incident.
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