The Railway Ministry has expressed “serious concern” over the increasing number of spring and brake failures detected on running trains, even those using Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) rakes.
Railway sources say that though the Online Monitoring of Rolling Stock (OMRS), an automated system installed along the track, has been detecting wheel or bearing failures and generating alerts, the inspection reports of mechanical staff have none of them.
In an advisory to Zonal Railways, the Railway Board said an analysis of failure reports generated by the system had revealed that the maintenance staff who inspected the train at the destination point found no fault in the rakes. While the system detected brake binding (where the brakes applied do not reverse to original position), the mechanical staff reported no defect. The system installed on either side of the track detects faults in passenger and goods trains, the sources say.
