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Recently on Wikipedia I researched the "British Rail Class 66".
Personally, the 66 "Devilsheds" as I call them are a particular favourite of mine, they are clearly reliable and useful due to the mass orders produced by European freight companies.
However, an article in the Wiki stated that critisicms were made to beleive that the Class 66 was ultimately "unsafe".
The trade union ASLEF (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen) claimed the Class 66 was "unsafe and unsatisfactory" and even called for a temproary ban of the use of the locomotives during Summer 2007.
However, I am not just whining at ASLEF, the Wiki also says that the society had scientific backup with the fact that during high temprature weather, more Class 66's passed through red lights, this linking to ASLEF's claim the cab design was bad with poor air conditioning, high noise levels and a general "cramped" area.
Of course, the 66 was never ban for the summer.
My views on this statement made by a society consisting of rail drivers themselves were quite well received. If the drives feel that indeed it is too crammy and noisy to concentrate, the builders of Class 66 should determine the correct solution to solve the problem, however, I found it shocking ASLEF called for a nationwide summer ban of the locomotive, which happens to have more units on the British railway than any other freight locomotives.
This would not just cause extreme inconvenience for companies largely including Freightliner, EWS, First GBRf and Yeoman, but complaints from the customers/users of the class 66 would lead to total havoc for the companies.
Personally, the 66 "Devilsheds" as I call them are a particular favourite of mine, they are clearly reliable and useful due to the mass orders produced by European freight companies.
However, an article in the Wiki stated that critisicms were made to beleive that the Class 66 was ultimately "unsafe".
The trade union ASLEF (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen) claimed the Class 66 was "unsafe and unsatisfactory" and even called for a temproary ban of the use of the locomotives during Summer 2007.
However, I am not just whining at ASLEF, the Wiki also says that the society had scientific backup with the fact that during high temprature weather, more Class 66's passed through red lights, this linking to ASLEF's claim the cab design was bad with poor air conditioning, high noise levels and a general "cramped" area.
Of course, the 66 was never ban for the summer.
My views on this statement made by a society consisting of rail drivers themselves were quite well received. If the drives feel that indeed it is too crammy and noisy to concentrate, the builders of Class 66 should determine the correct solution to solve the problem, however, I found it shocking ASLEF called for a nationwide summer ban of the locomotive, which happens to have more units on the British railway than any other freight locomotives.
This would not just cause extreme inconvenience for companies largely including Freightliner, EWS, First GBRf and Yeoman, but complaints from the customers/users of the class 66 would lead to total havoc for the companies.
