Sri Lanka Railways Forum

Over the past 50 years, various services in our country have shown improvement to varying degrees. One of the biggest improvements is in telecommunication. Those days, getting a call even to Galle or Kandy was an ordeal. We had to get it through the operator and had to wait for 3-4 hours for the connection. There were no private radio channels or TV. Around 10.30 p.m., the three state radio channels ‘went to sleep’. The width of the Borella – Maradana road was a quarter of the present. Now the Colombo roads are not too bad, even though they cannot be compared with those even in South-east Asian cities like Bangkok or Taipei. There are no bullock carts or rickshaws now on our roads, which were as common as the three-wheelers we see now.

There are other improvements too. The manual type- writers have given way to electronic ones, only to be replaced by computer printers. Examination results are released on the internet. Channelling a doctor and buying a ticket at some cinema halls can be done online. Dot com has made our lives much easier. There are also ATMs, internet banking, credit cards, digital cameras, modern machines, ‘keyhole’ surgery and stenting of coronary arteries. Syringes, needles and catheters are discarded after a single use.

Sadly not everything has shown improvement. Those nice trolley buses run on electricity are out of the Colombo roads due to somebody’s folly. Would the Colombo Municipal care to tell us why it was done? The biggest deterioration is undoubtedly in the railways used by hundreds of thousands of people everyday. The trains seem to be going backwards, not forwards! Lack of sufficient funds may be their main problem, but I feel there is more to it; their seems to be lack of common sense, ideas and resolve. It may be that the railways hierarchy does not know commuters’ hardships because they never use this mode of transport.

Recently I travelled to Trincomalee by train and the return journey was in a first class sleeping berth. Here are my experiences that made me decide never to travel by train again unless there is some improvement.

The train left Colombo Fort station ½ hour late. Many commuters would say that punctuality is not a strong point in the Railways. In most other countries, the trains leave dead on time. Even the bus halts have notices giving the times of the buses, and these times are adhered to rigidly. There was a great deal of shake and rattle as the tracks and coaches are pretty old, but the commuters may not grudge that despite the discomfort and annoyance as massive amounts of money are needed to replace them. But there are many improvements that would be possible that are not too costly and the funds needed could be found easily, if only the authorities know how to get about doing so.

I feel the main station in the country (Fort Station) has not seen a coat of paint for several decades. The tracks at various stations are full of garbage. Plantain skins, silly silly bags and empty bottles that I saw may have been there for weeks. There were no garbage bins at the Fort station or at other stations. I do not blame the commuters for dirtying the place. You can’t expect them to carry the rubbish in their bags or pockets and discard them when they go home! Various companies would come forward if requested to donate plastic garbage bins with their logos, names and messages to the Railways and the commuters would gradually get used to using them. The print and electronic media, especially the state-owned ones, can draw attention to them and within three months the eye- sore would be gone. Money has to be spent only to empty the bins. Railway stations and tracks are part of the country’s environment. So, the Ministry of Environment, too, has a responsibly in this regard.

The sleeping compartment I used (berth no.2) was alright. Yes, there was water in the toilet, though not in the taps; it dripping from the ceiling! The stench was awful, and the commode which must have been grey originally was grey only in patches with the rest black in colour (not washed for months?). Please note that it was a first class berth! A notice stating “Stick no bills” is painted on the walls of the carriages. Actually they should be telling the opposite! They must invite commercial establishment to “stick their bills” and then collect money from them to make the improvements. That would add some colour too to the dirty walls. Trains and the walls in the stations of most cities have colorful advertisements. There was no restaurant car in that train that does a nine-hour run. I remember having a cup of tea 20 years ago in the Udarata Menike. With water restrictions, I suppose it was not possible to wash that cup properly, but now there are disposable ones.

I have shown a few ways how Railways could do limited improvement with more innovativeness and little investment. Otherwise their patrons would continue to dwindle, and the Railways may end up like those Colombo’s trolley buses!

by Dr. Wijaya Godakumbura
Source: The Island

                            

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 5:37 am and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.