Allegations of Engine Drivers’ Union baseless says RITES

A spokesperson for RITES, India has denied allegations made by Engine Drivers’ Union as baseless.

The recent train tragedy involving the collision of three trains at the Alawwa station was a most unfortunate incident. The Indian built power set of S-11 series rammed the rear of a passenger train which was already standing on the same track at the Alawwa station.

Following the accident, a lot of unwanted controversy has been created with regard to the suitability of front end made of FRP composites of the Indian power set, which had collapsed as a result of the accident. It has been alleged that the composite front end of the power car is very weak and hence not fit for use on trains. This is not correct as FRP material is being widely adopted in several countries to make front ends of trains besides many other exterior and interior parts.

FRP is a thermoplastic polymer which is reinforced by glass fiber to provide strength and durability. The material possesses superior mechanical properties like impact resistance, stiffness, flexibility and ability to carry loads. Indian Railways have therefore adopted the use of this material extensively on the DMUs operating on the IR network. More than 130 power cars provided with FRP front ends are in regular service on IR for many years.

In the event of an accident, it is important that the impact does not get transferred on to the passenger area in order to prevent higher casualties. The impact energy should get absorbed and dissipated with minimum damage to the train and human life. This is sought to be achieved by designing the zone of impact in such a manner that it can collapse thereby absorbing maximum energy of the impact. This type of safety feature is also extensively adopted in automotive design.  

This is exactly what happened in the collision of the S-11 power set. In the head-on collision, the major portion of impact force was taken by the couplers, buffers and head stock while the residual force was absorbed by the body of the power car. As such a portion of the front end of the power car got crushed but did not allow the impact to travel to the passenger area. On the contrary, the steel-body coach which was hit from behind suffered large scale damage and was totally crushed to almost half the length.

It has been reported in the media that brakes of the power sets do not function properly. The truth is that the brake system in the power sets is very robust and fail-safe. The train has been provided with automatic air brakes, for entire train independent brakes on the power car, emergency brakes which can be applied by driver or guard and also deadman emergency brake application. There have been no complaints in the last six months about the functioning of brakes.

The comments and observations being made in many quarters and in the media about the weakness and unsuitability of FRP front ends are totally unfounded and baseless. In an accident of this type and magnitude, it would have been impossible to prevent damage to the coaches regardless of whether they were steel-bodied or otherwise. In fact, FRP front end of the S-11 power car has been safer as it has limited the damage and loss of human lives.

The allegations that the S-11 power sets are substandard do not have any technical or rational basis whatsoever.