Second driver claims safety problems, not so says Connex

According to a report published in The Age on March 22nd, a second Connex train driver has accused the operator of risking passenger safety by refusing to withdraw allegedly faulty trains from the network.

By Jennifer Perry

This comes after a report in The Age on March 15th, of a driver, John McMahon who demanded in a letter to Connex that it withdraw the troubled Siemens trains until a problem that caused at least five of them to overshoot station platforms was identified.
Now another driver, Emile Badaway has backed McMahons accusations. In his letter he reportedly said, (I am) dismayed and angered to hear that, in answer to the issues raised in the letter written to you by driver John McMahon...the Connex spokesperson gave the impression that there isnt a serious safety issue with Siemens train brakes and that driver McMahon is the only one complaining.
I most certainly have issues with the safety of Siemens train brakes and my responsibility and culpability while driving them, and I wholeheartedly agree with the assertions made in driver McMahons letter.
According to The Age report, in the most serious recent incident last month, a Siemens train overshot the platform at Ormond while the boom gates were still up. In response to this and other incidents, Connex introduced a mandatory 30km/h limit for Siemens trains entering stations as a precautionary measure.
McMahon and Badaway reportedly believe the response is inadequate and that the trains should be withdrawn until the problems are identified.
Communications manager for Connex, John Rees, told Rail Express that the two letters were discussing, Some overshoots we had mainly during February and in particular around one station at Ormond where there was three overshoots two in one day.
Rees said that theres currently an investigation proceeding on these overshoots that is being overseen by independent regulator, Public Transport Safety Victoria (PTSV).
There are no conclusive results as yet but Rees said, They have released three Siemens trains that were involved in those overshoots and these trains have been given a bill of health and are back in the fleet.
There are more investigations underway and well see where they lead and when they are concluded there will be some sort of announcement from ourselves or the PTSV.
When asked if he was aware of any problems with brakes on Connex trains, Rees said, No, we dont believe theres a safety issue over any of this.
The brakes were inspected and were fine, we dont believe that theres a safety issue inherent in the Siemens braking systems.
Rees said that the reference in The Age reports to the Siemens braking system problems in 2006-2007 where scores of trains, which make up just under a quarter of the suburban fleet, were withdrawn because of braking problems has long been resolved.
All of the four upgrade works that were required to be done were done and then we took this one step further and upgraded the upgrade, said Rees.