(United Press International circulated the following article on June 27.)
WASHINGTON — An Amtrak probe reportedly found that the supplier of the brakes for its high-speed Acela changed the design of the parts while the trains were being built.
The investigation began after Acela trains developed potentially catastrophic cracks, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The report said the supplier changed the design of the parts to include longer, thinner spokes that might have been weaker than the original design, the Journal said.
Investigations by Amtrak, the government and companies that helped manufacture the Acela haven’t yet concluded there is any link between the revised brake design and cracks discovered in April in hundreds of the 1,440 brake discs used to stop the trains, the Journal said.
Amtrak’s plan to get the trains rolling by next month includes installing brakes based on the abandoned design.
William Crosbie, Amtrak’s vice president of operations, says the brakes now being tested seem “very promising.”