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Dangerous crossings

Public still at risk
The General Manager, Railways, Priyal de Silva said there are about 740 unprotected crossings throughout the country. There are some difficulties because the railtrack was constructed before the road at many points and there are obstructions blocking the view. Boards have been put up at unprotected crossings to warn motorists.

Mr. de Silva explained that during President R. Premadasa's time, on his orders bamboo barriers were put up at all unprotected crossings and six temporary workers were employed by the respective Divisional Secretariats to man them on a shift basis. However, after some time it was found that these gatekeepers were often not at their posts. Motorists who found the gates open, went across believing it was safe. This led to an increase in accidents.

When Mrs. Srimani Athulathmudali was Minister of Transport, a committee appointed to study the issue suggested the removal of bamboo gates where the traffic was not too heavy and prominent signboards instead. Of the 740 unprotected crossings, barriers without interlocking signals were put up at 130 last year. Two hundred and fifty crossings with heavy traffic have been earmarked for protective measures. Financial constraints are also a major factor, he said.

There are different types of barriers, Mr. de Silva said. Barriers with the interlocking system operate the signals with the barrier and cost about Rs. 1.5m. The bell and light system works on a relay system. As the train approaches a certain distance, the bell rings, the red light comes on and the barrier is lowered. Although these are the best, it is not possible to have them at every crossing. The Moratuwa University has turned out some barriers with local materials at a lower cost. About 30 have been done this year. But with many crossing still ill- protected. The danger is ever present.

It was a miraculous escape from death at the level crossing at Peralanda, Kandana on Tuesday April, 23. Leslie Fernando, travelling in a car with his young son, Yoshan and his friend Sanju, found the makeshift gate at the crossing open. He did not see the gatekeeper. He drove his car over the crossing with two rail tracks, which was higher than the road. When the car was on the first track, he saw the gatekeeper standing on the other side, holding up his hand for him to stop. Thinking the train was approaching on the second track, Fernando stopped the car. Then, to his horror, he saw the train approaching on the track he was on. There was no time to cross the track or reverse the vehicle.

He shouted to the two children to jump out. "Yoshan, who was seated in the front passenger seat screamed, opened his door and jumped out," Leslie Fernando recalls. "I saw Sanju opening his door behind Yoshan. Then I too jumped out just in time. Seconds later, the train smashed into the car. I ran and picked up Sanju who had fallen out of the car." The car had been flung on to a clump of bushes on the roadside. Fortunately, apart from a few bruises no one was hurt. Looking at the state of the smashed up car, it was indeed amazing that the passengers had survived.

"This crossing is a very dangerous one," Fernando said. "During the last two years, five accidents have taken place with two or three deaths. It is better if there was no one to man the gate because then we would be more cautious." The crossing is manned by two temporary workers employed on a shift-basis by the local authority. They did not seem to have any facilities. There was not even a red flag or lamp. "When we see the further gate closed or hear the sound of the train, we run to close the gate," said S.N.S.P. Dias who was on duty when The Sunday Times visited the spot. Dias said it was his colleague who had been on duty at the time of the accident.

The victims of another rail crossing accident 11 days earlier at Katunayake were not so fortunate, however. When the car driven by Godage Dhanapala crashed into the train on the Katunayake airport road on April 12, both he and his passenger, an Indian engineer were killed.

Moragodage Francis Pinto, the gateman on duty said one of the barriers had been broken that afternoon by a bus that had driven into it as it was being lowered. The telephone line at the station had been cut due to the non-payment of a bill less than Rs.1000. They had sent a message about the broken gate to the railway authorities immediately, by the next train. As there was no one to go to the police, the entry had only been made the next day.

"After the barrier was broken I used the red and green flags to signal to the trains during the day and the red lamp after dark," Pinto said. "The alarm bell rings as the train approaches and the traffic light at the crossing also turns red. The night of the accident, at 8.50, the traffic signal was red and I was standing by the broken gate, with a red lamp awaiting the train from Puttalam. A row of vehicles had stopped behind the barrier on the other side. A bus drove up and stopped, behind the broken barrier. A few other vehicles parked behind the bus. Suddenly, a three-wheeler and a car overtook the bus and drove through the crossing. The three-wheeler made it safely but the train crashed into the left side of the car, dragging it along for 59 metres. The Sub-Station Master informed the Katunayake Police, who arrived within a few minutes."

Srinika Jayakody, O.I.C. Traffic, Katunayake Police, said that when he went to the scene the vehicle driver had already been sent to the Negombo Hospital. They helped to take out the passenger and sent him also to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Driver Dhanapala was transferred to the Colombo National Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Last year too a motorcycle had crashed into the train at this crossing, resulting in the rider's death. Another one had crashed into the train at the unprotected crossing close to the station.

"There are several near misses at this crossing every day. Even though the barriers are closed, vehicles try to beat the train," explained Sub-Station Master Wesley Senasinghe.

Dhanapala's young wife, Dilini, widowed at 31 years is devastated by her husband's tragic death. The mother of Chathurike, 8, and Tharindu, just five months old, Dilini is still in shock and has no idea how she will cope. "He came home for the night the day before the accident, with fried rice for Chathurika and a little key tag with a red light," Dilini weeps. "After the children were in bed, he sat and spoke to me for about an hour. This is the time we tell each other all that happened during the day. He left for work in the afternoon the next day. He said he had to take a passenger to the airport and would come home in the night. He gave me money to buy a dress for our daughter for the New Year. He also told me he would be at home for the New Year holidays."

Dilini was fast asleep when the ominous knock on the door roused them at 1.30 a.m. It was Dhanapala's employer, Suresh Jeyanayagam and his wife who had come to break the news of the accident.

Dilini is grateful to Dhanapala's employer who did everything for the funeral. She says Dhanapala was a caring father. He did everything for her soon after the birth of the baby, when she was unfit to do any work. During their ten years of marriage they had some difficult times when he was out of a job for three years but they managed to survive.

The distraught widow appears to be in a sad plight. Dhanapala had not wanted her to work so she has no experience to take up a job. She did not think he was entitled to Provident Fund benefits except perhaps for five years when he worked at LECO. "We have paid the rent on this house until the end of June," Dilini said. "I haven't thought of what to do or where to go after that."

It is tragic that so many lives are disrupted by avoidable accidents. Shouldn't railway crossings be made more secure to prevent motorists breaking through the barriers? According to the railway authorities, there have been 61 level crossing accidents including 27 deaths in 2001. Fifteen of these accidents have been at protected crossings.

On the crash at Kandana on Tuesday, a senior railway official said that the guards at these unprotected crossings are paid by the Social Services Department and the responsibility lies with the local authorities. "The protected crossings are our responsibility but the local authorities have to take the responsibility for unprotected crossings."

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