So the cable was a critical component and initial findings suggest it wasn't being verified as rigourously, thoroughly and often as it perhaps should have.
No that's not what it says. Brakes were not enough "in the current configuration" in other words they were not applied fully. The investigation will focus on why brakes were not applying full breaking force.
In railway jargon "brake configuration" refers to "how much are you braking" but you seem to have interpreted "braking configuration" as "the number and type of brakes that are currently installed in the vehicle"
So the braking system is insufficient to stop after a broken cable.
There's more than a wheel brake system. There's a mechanism to clamp against the track slot from both top and bottom. See Fig. 2, right. Apparently it wasn't enough.
Funiculars are a problem because they're too steep for railroad wheel brakes, too heavy for elevator braking systems, and rare enough that there are not good standards for them. Angels Flight in LA has had two major accidents, one in 2001 and one in 2013.[1][2] Different causes. The 2001 accident was due to bad design - only one cable, no track brakes, and a system where each car had its own winding drum. The spline connecting the drums failed. The 2013 accident, after a total redesign and replacement of the hauling system, was due to bad maintenance. So bad that it involved a stick being used to hold down an override switch.
Elevator rail brakes are often jam brakes - once they're triggered, a wedge is jammed between brake and rail such that motion forces it into tighter contact. Stops with jam brakes are rather drastic. San Francisco cable cars have a jam brake for emergencies. That's the red lever, which drives a wedge into the slot. When used, there are usually passenger injuries and the wedge will be welded to the track by frictional heating.[3] So that's for serious emergencies only.
[1] https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/...
[2] https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/...
[3] https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/cable-car-6-riders...
Hearing some local experts, they often mention that this is physically not enough to stop a 14 ton vehicle (plus passengers) going downhill when the slope is as high as 18%. So basically even if in perfectly working condition, the bake pads or wheels would just slide down the tracks as there's not enough friction for the resulting force.
Maybe something like a rack and pinion railway or some other kind of drastic metal locking mechanism are the only realistic way to prevent catastrophic events when the cable breaks/detaches, considering the masses and slopes involved here?
one needs just more pad area and more clamp force
I've never heard that terminology in a European rail context, you'll need to provide a citation.
In EU regs, "braking configuration" literally means the mechanical configuration of braking; how much braking force the inertial, hydraulic or pneumatic braking circuits can apply in total.
I presume the quote in English is translated from the original Portuguese. I would hope it was carefully translated but I wouldn't personally bet on that.
A Portuguese source document might be clearer.
[edit]
Document in Portuguese: https://www.gpiaaf.gov.pt/upload/processos/d054238.pdf
No entanto, e independentemente disso, as evidências indicam que o freio pneumático e também o freio manual foram rapidamente aplicados pelo guarda-freio da cabina n.® 1, mas que na configuração existente os freios não têm a capacidade suficiente para imobilizar as cabinas em movimento sem estas terem as suas massas em vazio mutuamente equilibradas através do cabo de ligação. Desta forma, não constitui um sistema redundante à falha dessa ligação.