Urgent brake tests on 300 Christchurch buses after VTNZ failed to do proper checks

Tuesday, 29 January 2019

More than 300 Christchurch buses are undergoing urgent brake tests after VTNZ admitted its inspectors had not done them properly for a period last year.

Red Bus and Go Bus companies stressed none of their vehicles had suffered brake failures in service, but they insisted on getting 305 buses checked after a Stuff investigation alerted them to problems with testing at VTNZ's Lichfield St premises.

Only one out of 190 buses rechecked so far has failed a test to ensure front and back air brakes can operate independently, so if one set loses air, the other takes over.

Red Bus chief executive Paul McNoe said the bus that failed had been repaired, and he was organising immediate inspections of Red Travel vehicles on tour around the South Island.

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VTNZ does about a million vehicle inspections a year, including warrants of fitness (WOFs) for cars and certificates of fitness (COFs) for trucks and buses, and it has 82 branches nationally.

In response to written questions VTNZ admitted the brake testing issue in Christchurch came to light last year during internal auditing.

Country manager Greg O'Connor said heavy vehicle COFs required a series of brake checks and it appeared that one of them may not have been done on up to 250 buses that went through the Lichfield Street testing station in 2018.

He declined to be interviewed and answered questions via email through a public relations person.

'VTNZ has assembled a team of technical experts to re-test the brakes on buses in Christchurch after learning that some tests may not have been done properly.

'Last year, through our auditing and performance procedures, it came to our attention that testing of split brake systems was not consistent at VTNZ Lichfield St.

'Once this was determined, corrective action was taken.'

A recent audit at the branch showed split braking systems were now being checked on all relevant vehicles, O'Connor said.

'We're confident that we have robust systems in place to regulate our processes, people and equipment and we stand by our work.'

O'Connor said VTNZ was doing an internal investigation, and the Transport Agency also confirmed it was investigating.

Red Bus chief executive Paul McNoe says the risk of complete brake failure is low but the company has ordered urgent inspections of its entire fleet of Christchurch urban buses and tour buses in service around the South Island.

McNoe said the risk of complete brake failure was low because of back up systems and a high standard of maintenance, 'but from a pure technical perspective, we expect them (VTNZ) to be delivering fully compliant testing.

'I must say I'm disappointed with VTNZ for not identifying the issue and rectifying it much sooner.'

It was unclear how long the testing lapse had gone on so they were erring on the side of caution by getting the entire fleet rechecked, McNoe said.

'VTNZ will be paying for the retesting, we certainly won't be.

'I'll be somewhat annoyed if they're not all done by the end of this week.'

Go Bus chief operating officer Nigel Piper said he had been advised the problem had occurred for a short period during November.

All 170 of their buses had passed the retest and the company had 'yet to work out the commercial arrangement' with VTNZ.

Bus and Coach Association chief executive Barry Kidd said it was very disappointing to discover that VTNZ had not conducted the tests properly in Christchurch.

The Transport Agency in investigating after VTNZ admitted that its Lichfield St branch in Christchurch had not done proper air brake tests for a period last year.

'The key thing is that we have these checks in order to provide assurance, not only to bus operators but to the travelling public, that the vehicles are safe.'

Enforcement of vehicle safety regulations has been under the spotlight since law firm Meredith Connell took control of the transport agency's compliance team in October with a review of 850 outstanding files.

Since then a growing number of heavy vehicle and WOF inspectors have been suspended, but this is the first sign of a larger testing organisation coming under scrutiny.

The transport agency has given almost 25,00 motorists free vouchers for WOF retests, and before Christmas it banned the use of 1400 tow bars until they were recertified.

Do you know more? Contact Amanda.Cropp@stuff.co.nz