Sri Lanka Railways Forum

Train commuters were greatly inconvenienced yesterday when morning train services were disrupted after a part of the Trincomalee – Colombo Fort train engine and a couple of wheels collapsed damaging a large patch of the railway track at Ambepussa.

A Railway Control Room spokesman said he could not say when normal services would resume after the restoration of the track as the damage was huge. He declined to divulge further details due to restrictions imposed by the General Manager and Operations Manger with regard to speaking to the media.

However despite repeated attempts, the Daily Mirror failed to contact Railways General Manager Lalithasiri Gunaruwan or Deputy Operations Manager Vijaya Samarasingha.

Commenting on the depressing plight of the Sri Lanka Railways, Railway Employees General Union Secretary Sumathipala Manawadu claimed the railway service had faced a severe crisis due to inefficiency, lethargy and unprofessional handling of issues relating to the service.

“GMR Gunaruwan or Samarasingha have no solutions to the deteriorating railway service. I wonder whether they are attempting to embarrass Transport Minister Dulles Alahappeuma and the government which pledged to improve the railway service to satisfactory levels about one and half years ago. Under this management the railway service has deteriorated to its lowest levels in history. Train delays, accidents, derailments and cancellations have become routine,” Mr. Manawadu charged.

Meanwhile, 39-year-old K.T.Piyadasa – a train commuter for more than 11 years – who travels to his office in Grandpass from Alawwa, said train services have worsened today.

“Minister Alahapperuma is trying to do his best. But the officials surrounding him are sabotaging his good intentions. The railway service is running down a precipice under these officials,” he said.“The officials have no solutions to the woes in the railway service. We are late to office almost daily,” K.D.M. Bandaramanike (29) of Polgahawela who is an employee of a private establishment said.

By Sandun A Jayasekera and Pushpakumara Mallawarachchi
Source : Daily Mirror
Picture : Divaina

                            

This entry was posted on Friday, November 7th, 2008 at 12:58 pm and is filed under News. 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.