“Preventing accidents at crossings not our job”
General Manager, Sri Lanka Railways (SLR), Lalithasiri Gunaruwan said that it is not fair for the public to blame the SLR for the unprotected railway crossings in the country.
The General Manager was of the opinion that it was unfair and unreasonable for the road traveller to blame the SLR for the accidents at unprotected rail crossings and urged the relevant authorities to take up the issue.
Speaking to The Sunday Leader Gunaruwan said the SLR would extend its support and instruct the relevant authorities on how to prevent rail-crossing accidents as long as the costs and maintenance of the crossings is borne by the authorities.
“Road travellers expect the train traveller to pay for the erecting of rail crossings and the maintenance of these crossings for their safety. Why should the train traveller pay for the safety of the road traveller? The train traveller is the poorest of the poor and is not in danger when a train crosses a road. It is the road traveller who should take the responsibility of being careful when he or she is driving past a rail crossing,” Gunaruwan said.
He added that nobody had addressed the issue as to how so many unprotected rail crossings exist in the country. “Land is given to people by politicians and other reputed individuals in various areas without taking into consideration the dangers of the railway lines. Once people are resettled close to the railway lines, solutions to the accidents taking place while crossing the rail tracks have to be found. The easy way out is to blame the SLR whenever there is an accident,” Gunaruwan explained.
By Risidra Mendis
Source: The Sunday Leader
Tags: accidents, politicians, rail crossings, railway crossings, railway lines, relevant authorities, road travellers, sri lanka railways, sunday leader, taking into consideration, train, traveller
