News
Rail tracks to be imported from China
View(s):- General Manager assures better train services soon; says derailments will be minimised
By Senuka Jayakody
The import of 10,000 rail tracks, each 45 feet long, to minimise derailments and upgrade the railway services, are expected to arrive within two months from China.
This is in the wake of a spate of derailments which occurred recently, including the derailment of the Samudra Devi on Monday at the Kalutara Railway Station. This caused delays for other trains on the coastal line.
Railways Department General Manager W A S Gunasinghe said the imports were expected to arrive in about two months and he assured that the railway lines would not be closed when the constructions took place. “Until then, we have to manage with existing resources. Some replacements are already being made. The Panadura-Wadduwa track was replaced in many places,” he said.
Railways Department Chief Engineer H M K W Bandara said the train tracks were the 90-pounds type, and each was 45 ft (13.7m) long and weighed 6,000 tonnes. The tenders for the train tracks have already been called. The imports were expected to cost more than Rs 1 billion.
Transport and Highways Minister Bandula Gunawardena said the import of tracks was to replace weak tracks. Commenting on derailments, he said: “Derailments are out of our control. The trains are capable of running due to the effort of those involved.”
Mr Gunawardena said the tracks, which should have been replaced within 10-20 years, had not been upgraded as tenders had not been called for the process. Further, the situation on the coastal line was worse, as the tracks had to be replaced within five years due to their position near the sea.
The Minister requested one year, stating that he would “fix the railway tracks by any means.” He expects to introduce electric trains as well.
“This is an issue caused by long-term negligence of public transport,” he said.
Railways Trade Union Alliance President S P Withanage said the tracks were weak, and now that 30 trains had been cancelled, many people could not go to work on time. “People are under severe pressure now. It is the responsibility of the Government to provide proper train services to the people,” he said.
Commenting on the importing of railway tracks he said: “The Government is talking of projects in 2040 as it usually does.” He also criticised the Minister’s statement to give him a year, saying that without money the Railways Department would be incapable of maintaining not only train tracks but also engines and signalling systems.
“Everything needs money and the Government is persistently saying there is no money. If this goes on, the Railways Department will cease to exist within a year,” he warned.
He also said 3,000 vacancies in the department, which were expected to be filled by multi-purpose development assistants, were also causing issues as the rail tracks had to be maintained daily.
However, he expressed his uncertainty over employment, due to the local council elections, where permission from the Election Commissioner was required to hire employees.
Railways Station Masters Union President Sumedha Somaratne said the current situation with the train tracks was causing distress to the people since they were unable to reach destinations on time. “The issue persists due to the lack of resources and the lack of employees,” he said. He too was dubious on the proceedings due to the permission required.
Since the imported railway tracks were to arrive by March, he expected the situation with the railway tracks to “return to normal” by April and the trains could then continue to run on time.
Locomotive Operating Engineers Union President K A U Konthasinghe said train derailments had decreased, and increased again recently. He said derailments occurred due to many reasons, but primarily due to the poor condition of rail tracks, and the imported railway tracks would help the train services to get back to normal.”
He said when a train was derailed it was not only that train which gets delayed but also other trains on the entire track, since the area had to be fixed, and this caused distress to passengers.
“Passengers do not have the train exactly when they need it the most, due to high costs of other transportation methods. On top of that, due to the cancellation of trains and the shortage of employees to maintain the tracks, it is certainly a critical situation for railway service,” Mr Konthasinghe said.
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