The RWF claims to have a 'cent per cent' success record when it comes to the performance of its products like axles. The defence firm is the military's premier factory to build military hardware as well as the super-strength metal that goes into the creation of these weapons.
The derailment of a Western Railway local train, south of Andheri station on September 15, has the potential to dent two solid reputations -- the Rail Wheel Factory (RWF) at Yelahanka, Bengaluru, and a top weapons manufacturing company under the defence ministry based in West Bengal's 24 Parganas (North) district.
The RWF claims to have a 'cent per cent' success record when it comes to the performance of its products like axles. The defence firm is the military's premier factory to build military hardware as well as the super-strength metal that goes into the creation of these weapons.
Railway officials told dna that the metal for the axle that broke during the Andheri derailment was forged there. The RWF's reputation is also under cloud. The website of the railway's premier wheel-and-axle plant proudly claims that "our dedication to quality is reflected in our performance that not a single product has failed on line till date since inception".
The website further adds that the "wheels and axles manufactured at RWF meet the Association of American Railroad (AAR) and Indian Railway Standard (IRS) specifications for various railroad applications".
Speaking to dna, Pankaj Jain, RWF general manager, reiterated the manufacturing plant's track record. "It is true. No product of the RWF has ever failed in service," Jain told this newspaper over phone. He said that the axle was built in 2011 in RWF, but its metal was forged by the West Bengal firm.
On Tuesday, mechanical engineering officials of the metallurgical department of RWF will be in Mumbai, giving their views on the breaking of the axle, built by RWF, under the Indian Railway Standard R43 specifications- of coach 4003B of the train. The breaking of the axle and the subsequent caving in of the wheels of the train is now being seen as 'the most possible' reason for the derailment that ended up injuring several people grievously.
RWF officials will be in Mumbai to answer queries as part of the mandated inquiry into the derailment being presided by Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) Sushil Chandra. The inquiry is trying to find answers as to why the axle, built in 2011, broke though they have a life of 30 years.
Officials told dna that the ingredients that went into the making of the axle as well as the way it broke are factors that go way beyond the investigations into the derailment. "It is unprecedented that an axle breaks like this. Even after derailments much bigger in scale than the Andheri one, we have found the wheel-and-axle set and the bogie are completely intact," they said.
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