Chinese carriages replace aged ones in trains
In his efforts to improve the Railway Service, Transport Minister Dulles Alahapperuma has instructed railway authorities to replace 20 years old coaches of Yal Devi with Chinese-built new coaches which have modern facilities that include a public music system, spokesman for the Ministry Sumith Chandana Weerasingha said.
The department has imported 100 train coaches built to the specification of Sri Lanka Railways from China at a cost of Rs. 3 billion. Yal Devi is the most crowded and popular train to the North on the main line. The new Yal Devi will consume less time to reach its destinations while giving commuters a comfortable and stress-free travel, he said.
“Ruhunu Kumari on the coast line was the first express train that put new coaches into the service. Other express trains Mutukumari, Sagarika and Mahawa are running with new coaches now,” he added.
Minister Alahapperuma has successfully negotiated with the government of China to supply the SLRC with 15 train engines to replace the rapidly depleting fleet of rail engines as many of them are decades old and prone to engine failures which situation is the cause for derailments and delays, Weerasingha said.
With the arrival of 35 power sets from China which are provided through a soft loan package at the request of Minister Alahapperuma, the railway service is to undergo a huge improvement before the end of this year, he stressed.
By Sandun A. Jayasekera
Source: Daily Mirror
Tags: derailments, engine failures, express trains, loan package, music system, railway authorities, railway service, service transport, soft loan, sri lanka railways, train coaches, train engines
