Tonight:
5°c
5,000 black cabs recalled after 'green' engine blaze
David Williams, Motoring Editor29 Sep 2008
More than 5,000 black cabs are being recalled in a major £4 million operation after investigators discovered the cause of a series of mystery blazes.
Twelve TX4 cabs burst into flames over the summer, leaving the vehicles gutted and their drivers shaken.
Six hundred cabs made by London Taxis International were ordered off the capital's roads for urgent investigations a week ago, with a further 400 grounded in other towns and cities.
All were early production TX4 models with a "56" number plate.
Today the Coventry firm said the fires erupted when a pipe used to recirculate exhaust fumes - as part of an emissions-control system - overheated. The "Exhaust Gas Recirculation" pipe then set fire to under-bonnet cladding installed to reduce engine noise.
One thousand TX4s - including the 600 in London - will now be fitted with fire-prevention equipment over the next two and a half weeks.
A further 4,000 TX4 models built at a later date will then be recalled for similar treatment over coming months in what LTI says is a "confidence-boosting" move, even though it says the taxis are not at risk.
As an extra precaution automatic fire extinguishers will be fitted under the bonnets of 5,000 TX4 vehicles.
High pressure canisters will automatically flood the engine compartment with carbon dioxide if sensors detect a fire.
The cost of the work will initially be borne by LTI although it may seek to recover costs from its suppliers or insurers.
The firm has pledged to compensate TX4-owning drivers who have suffered financially. Their claims are likely to total tens of thousands of pounds as drivers have had to hire replacement cabs.
"If there is ever any problem under the bonnet, the fire extinguishing system will deal with it," Matthew Cheyne, LTI marketing director, told the Evening Standard.
"If you had a massive fire it would suppress it. It will give the driver and passengers enough time to get out."
LTI has set up special facilities with London cab dealer Sigma to handle the refit. Up to 30 repair bays each manned by two technicians will work to ensure that around 50 cabs a day are treated. London's 600 cabs will be refitted within two and a half weeks.
Mr Cheyne said no further cabs - in addition to the initial 1,000 - would be ordered off the roads. The 1,000 affected cabs will be allowed back on the roads after the work has been completed.
A spokesman for the Public Carriage Office in London, said: "We must ensure that, with the proposed modifications, the TX4 meets our conditions of fitness and provides the highest possible safety standards which our passengers quite rightly expect.
"We know cab drivers are keen to get this sorted out as quickly as possible so they can get back out to work in their own cabs, and we will be contacting all those affected directly to advise them of what happens next in terms of their vehicles' licences."
One driver of a TX4 that had been recalled in London told the Standard: "It has been very stressful and expensive to hire a replacement vehicle ... [and] we have had to continue paying the loan on a £34,000 vehicle which we can't even use. It is like a second mortgage. We are calling on LTI to sort this out as soon as they can."
Reader views (3)
Having lost the car industry through poor quality this captive market will go to MB because the british goverment and management do not take quality seriously enough. This is just another example of the decline of british industry, a national disgrace, like Terminal 5.. How can this company hope to survive when it allows its products on the road in such a lethal condition.
- Tony Brown, London, England, 06/11/2008 04:52
Report abuse
To be fair, Mary Dowdye took the bull by the horns and made sure the cabs where removed from the roads, while Ed Thompson washed his hands on the whole affair but will at some point try and take the credit for it.
How can the PCO be 100% sure these modifications will work, they only have LTIs word for it, cabs should be thoroughly tested by an independent body before they are let back on, mind you LTI have had the PCO in there brown envelope for a long time now.
It appears also that many council across the Uk have ignored the warnings to remove all TX4s until the modifications are completed, VOSA should have put a stop order out to all councils as well mind you once again councils know best (not)
- Graham Gray, Liverpool, 30/09/2008 18:57
Report abuse
Why did the PCO wait nine weeks
until eight Taxis in central London (12 nationwide) had been gutted by fire to act?
Why has it taken the manufactures so long to diagnose the problem?
When London’s Bendy buses were igniting into fireballs TFL acted within days and Mercedes was able to sort the problem out in under a week.
The way this situation has been handled by both the manufacturer and the PCO is quite simply unacceptable.
The PCO has come out of this in a very bad light. Both Mary Dowdye and Ed Thompson have shown a complete disregard to passenger safety by waiting as long as they did.
The last statement made by this pair was on the 22nd of September six days ago, why the silence?
This has been a bad indictment for both the manufactures and the regulatory body and heads should roll.
Has the carriage office taken on too much
with the administration of both the Hackney Carriage and private hire trades?
Should the PCO break away from TFL and just handle the Hackney cab trade?
- Thomasthetaxi, London, 30/09/2008 02:47
Report abuse
