Removal of engines cost SLR dearly
Railway trade unions claim that the Department had incurred a loss of Rs. 1400 million due to the removal of seven M9 engines from the service. The department imported ten M9 Engines from France in 1997. Unfortunately, only three engines are still in operation, General Secretary of the All Ceylon Railway Employees General Union Sumathipala Manawadu told The Island.
He said that the department would not have suffered this loss if official considered the geological aspects and conditions of the rail track in Sri Lanka prior to the import of engines. However, this situation still continues even under Transport Minister Dallas Alahapperuma.
“The Department planned to import 15 power sets and 100 carriages from china under the economic relation ship of the two countries. Of them, 25 railway carriages were imported recently. Now, these carriages are not in use due to some technical problems and lack of spare parts.
Manawadu said that the department did not take any action to punish the culprits for these deals, but are trying to hike railway fares. Railway Director General Dr. Lalithasiri Gunaruwan recently announced a railway fare hike in near future.
The Island made several attempts to contact Transport Minister Dallas Alahapperuma but to no available.
Source: The Island
Tags: carriages, class m9 alstom, fare hike, rail fares, railway director, railway employees, spare parts, trade unions
