What may be the cause of automatic activation of the rail brakes?
Show the correct answer
Correct answer
C. Pulling of the safety brake lever by a passenger.
Explanation
In the photo you can see a tram bogie with its wheels standing on the rails. The track brakes may switch on by themselves because a passenger has pulled the safety brake lever - answer C.
The safety brake is for passengers to stop the tram in an emergency. Using it starts braking, including the track brakes, without the tram driver doing anything. Damage to the drive shaft (answer A) or to the converter (answer B) does not have this effect. After a sudden stop, you check why the passenger used the brake, and only then do you continue driving. A passenger may also use this brake in good faith, for example when someone faints in the carriage.
Legal basis: § 16 para. 1 point 4 of the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 2 March 2011 on the technical conditions of trams and trolleybuses and the scope of their necessary equipment (Dz.U. nr 65 poz. 344)