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Summary of Article

This essay attempts to summarise the principal aspects highlighted in the article of Barry Clement dealing with the issue of Branson 's tilting trains . This essay contains both summary as well as critical evaluation of the article (Clement , 2005

The article discussed the qualified performance of Pendolino trains of Sir Richard Branson . At the outset , the author argues that Branson 's tilting trains used on the west coast main line , have the worst performance record and that they are not reliable which is proved by the statistics obtained

by the industry figures . It is suggested that tilting trains , a new technology introduced in British railways , are more likely to breakdown when compared with other locomotives being used in England . The management of Pendolino trains , Virgin , had a hard time in providing professional service to the public due to intermittent breakdowns of these trains . In these trains , there were complaints for every 1908 miles , which is worst performance when compared with other trains of Europe , which run for 50000 miles without any major complaint Similarly , modern express trains of Britain have run for 36000 miles without breakdown . Even the ageing locomotives on the East Coast run for approximately 13000 miles without any fault . It is suggested by some rail engineers that this problem has emerged due to the fact that new Italian rail engines were introduced in Britain without ascertaining whether they would provide efficient service in English conditions However , the manufacturers argue that this problem of Pendolino trains was expected . It is suggested that problems in these trains have occurred due to troubles with lavatories , doors , and tilting mechanism Certain measures are adopted by the Virgin to get rid of these periodic interruptions . As a part of this strategy , drivers of Pendolino trains are requested to report regarding any complaints to the Inspectors so that the manufactures Alstom could be informed regarding these problems In spite of these problems , Sir Richard assumed that these trains are one of the best to be manufactured in the recent years . High-tech lavatories in these trains have created problems to the authorities as they close doors of lavatories when passengers dump them with waste . The authorities tried to get rid of this problem by installing sensors in these lavatories . Sometimes , the passengers who did not comprehend that lavatories are very sophisticated and need to be handled carefully created this problem . Due to technical problems , it was decided to cut down the speed of Pendolino trains . Added to this , passengers had bad experience when the rail route was closed down for engineering work and the trains had to take the alternative slower route . However , Alstom claims that initially it was expected that the Pendolino trains would run without breakdown for 3000 miles . They claim that its performance will be improved in the due course to reach the target of efficient running for 10000 miles without breakdown . Thus , it is argued by officials of Virgin that Pendolino trains have the capacity to run...