UK: The CAF automated light metro trainsets which recently entered service on the Docklands Light Railway have been temporarily withdrawn from traffic as a precautionary measure following what Transport for London described as ‘an issue with braking performance during wet weather on one train’.
On November 12 TfL said there had been one ‘isolated’ incident with a single train which did not stop in the planned position at a platform because of low adhesion due to wet weather. The three of the 54 B23 trains which had so far entered service had been temporarily withdrawn pending an investigation to fully understand the cause. Once the root cause had identified and mitigations were in place, a review would be undertaken into whether this affected the overall delivery timescale for the fleet.
Current service levels remain unchanged, having been reduced temporarily when older trainsets were withdrawn before the delayed the introduction of the new fleet which finally began on September 30.
‘Safety is always our top priority and we need to understand what happened before returning them to service’, said Stuart Harvey, Chief Capital Officer at TfL. ‘Introducing new trains is never without challenges and until our engineering teams complete their investigations, we will continue to operate DLR services using our existing fleet. I know customers are keen to see these new trains on the network, but we must get this right to deliver the safe reliable service that Londoners expect.’
