Saturday, 12 July 2014 01:49
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We write to you regarding the editorial titled ‘Chugging lnto The Red’ that appeared in the Daily FT on 8 July 2014.
RITES Ltd. is an ISO 2001-2008 company that accords utmost importance to quality and reliability.
Accordingly, RITES takes strong objection to the contents of the piece concerning S-11 train sets which were supplied to Sri Lanka Railways by RITES.
The allegation, attributed to trade unions, that the S-11 trains possess faulty brakes is fictitious, baseless, unsubstantiated and seems to be directed at causing harm to the manufacturer’s reputation.
It is pointed out that in both cases of accidents involving S-11 train sets, the cause of the accidents was over-speeding, leaving hardly any margin for the train to stop and avoid collision even with full braking on. The evidence of this is available in the speed charts obtained from the speed recorders installed in the driver’s cab. The enquiry committees appointed to investigate the cause of the accidents ruled out any deficiency in the brake system.
The S-11 train sets are equipped with microprocessor-controlled event recording system which records not only the speed and distance but also the timings of the brake application, ensuring its effectiveness at all times. The trains have been rendering excellent services for the last two years.
