The technical failure in one of the elevators accessing the Aguda overpass on the Linha do Norte was detected today at 3:00 p.m., and teams immediately went to the site.

"After evaluation, there was clear evidence that the failure was caused by an act of vandalism," explains IP, adding that it should be resolved by the end of the day.

In a clarification, the company also adds that the technical failure that occurred on Thursday in another elevator of the overpass "presented the same characteristics".

On Thursday, the Aguda overpass, inaugurated two months ago, was inaccessible, in the east zone, to people with reduced mobility between 12:17 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. due to an elevator failure.

Initially, when questioned by Lusa, IP only indicated that "it was a part that broke and it was necessary to replace it".

Given the occurrence of these two incidents in a short period of time, IP clarified this afternoon that it will file a complaint with the competent authorities and evaluate the implementation of additional video surveillance systems on site.

The structure located at the Aguda station guarantees the crossing over the Linha do Norte for users of rail transport, having been equipped with elevators, thus ensuring access conditions for people with reduced mobility.

The infrastructure is part of the ongoing works on the Linha do Norte between Espinho (Aveiro district) and the Devesas station (Gaia, in the Porto district), including the Granja overpass in the same project.

IP has already put out to tender, for 50 thousand euros, studies for underpasses in Granja and Aguda, in Gaia, following a 2022 protocol signed after protests by the population against the installed overpasses.

In the face of the protests, and after demonstrations against the structures dubbed "eyesore", "architectural spit" or "Berlin Wall" by the population and built within the scope of the renovation of the Linha do Norte between Espinho and Gaia, a protocol was signed in July 2022, which provided for the study of solutions for passages under the line.

"The feasibility study will consist of a technical analysis to identify the various solutions and quantify the interventions to be carried out in the surroundings of the infrastructure for unevenness, which allows the passage of pedestrians at the Granja station and Aguda station," an official IP source told Lusa in August.

IP expects to complete the works on the Linha do Norte between Espinho and Vila Nova de Gaia in the second quarter of the year, a company source told Lusa on February 9.

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