by Don Asoka Wijewardena
Sri Lankan Railways Engine Drivers Union (SLREDU) President I. L. K. Dissanayaka yesterday accused the railway engineers of recommending the import of technically defective Indian S -11 Power Sets for operation in the country.
He said the driver were risking their lives when having to operate such engines which had not been turned out of steel. He said the material used was fiber glass. The brake systems were faulty, wind-screens blurred, and the master control and the power throttle manufactured by the Indian Rites company were not up to standard. The SLREDU also knew from a reliable source that crash tests on S -11 were not done, Dissnanayaka claimed in a brief interview with The Island.
He pointed out that soon after the Mirigama train accident, the SLREDU took a unanimous decision to boycott driving S- 11 engines as they were not safe at all. Several technical faults could be seen. Had the engines been manufactured with correct technical specifications, the engine driver’s, the assistant driver’s and the foreigners lives could have been saved.
He said that the railway management had detailed engine inspectors to operate S -11 engines, but they were also reluctant to run them. They had realized the danger posed by such engines. The SLREDU did not object to the import of other engines because they had never posed any technical problems until now. Meanwhile, the Secretary to the Transport Ministry Dhammika Perera had put the import of any more S -11 engines on hold.
When The Island contacted Sri Lankan Railways General Manager B. A. P. Ariyaratne, he warned the drivers’ union not to sabotage Sri Lankan Railway by pin pointing baseless technical errors in S -11. Some Sri Lankan railway engineers and himself went to India’s Rites company and examined the S -11 trains. They were found technically sound. The engineers arrived at the conclusion that S -11 engines had been manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory of Rites in accordance with correct technical specifications.
He maintained that the team was convinced the engines were manufactured to internationally accepted standard.
The drivers’ union had made several baseless statements on the manufacture of those engines. The fiber glass structure and brake systems were technically upto the required standard. The windscreen and the wipers were rather sub-standard, but those small defects could be repaired. Master control and the power throttle of the engines were manufactured in different technical specifications, but were safe and durable.
Ariyaratne added that Sri Lankan Railways was compelled to appoint an Independent Third Party of railway engineers of the European Union to visit S -11 manufacturing firm.
The third party would be able to get a first hand knowledge on the manufacturing process and submit an impartial report to the Sri Lankan government.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=36639
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