Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2008 8:52:04 GMT
Runaway bus had faulty brakes, so do 18 more
EIGHTEEN Government buses have been operating daily school and commuter services across Sydney with broken handbrakes.
The startling safety lapse was identified in mechanical checks following last week's runaway bus incident at Epping when an empty Scania-made bus rolled backwards on to the train lines.
State Transit (STA) confirmed last night that RTA inspectors had found 18 Scanias with handbrakes deemed to have "failed", requiring immediate replacement.
The brake check log from the Willoughby depot, obtained by The Daily Telegraph shows many more Scanias could have similar problems.
Twenty four of 82 Scanias at Willoughby were marked by inhouse mechanics as "faulty".
STA acting chief executive insisted today that his own mechanics were wrong and that a total of 18 needed attention at depots at Leichhardt, Randwick, Willoughby and Kingsgrove.
"There is no basis for the use of these terms ("faulty") - the handwritten remarks are not an official log but are personal observations made prior to the rigorous RTA-qualified mechanic inspections of these buses carried out by senior State Transit staff," Mr Rowley said.
"Only four have been deemed to require replacement parts, and this is a purely precautionary measure, considering all four buses have passed their mandatory RTA road-worthiness inspections in recent weeks, including the handbrake."
Opposition Transport spokeswoman Gladys Berejiklian said the hanbrake failures were a "safety crisis".
"It was sheer luck that no one was injured last week when the bus rolled on to a live rail line," she said.
"It's not good enough for the State Government to sweep repeated maintenance breaches under the carpet. The public deserve an explanation, the bus drivers deserve an explanation."
Tonight the Rail Tram and Bus Union is calling for the immediate reinstatement of the female driver suspended after the Epping crash.
"We want the driver to be completely exonerated, we want the driver to compensated for any loss of wages and penalty rates." RTBU divisional secretary Raul Baonza said.