It was by a quirk of circumstance that my friend and batch mate AGA and I found ourselves in the office of Mr. Vaithialingam at Railway Headquarters one day about the end of June 1960. This amiable, gentle person was the Chief Engineer, Way and Works, Sri Lanka Railways.
Year after year for several years he [...]
Never a day passes without some incident in the railways – derailments, delays, strikes, etc. To get to the root cause, it is best to go back to the era of the legendary B. D. Rampala and before, when the trains ran to time and derailments, accidents were very very rare.
The derailments are mainly due [...]
A proposal to build a railway line between Sri Lanka and India has been included in the agenda of the next SAARC Transport Ministers meeting to be held in Sri Lanka, a senior Minister said yesterday.
Transport Minister Dulles Alahapperuma told parliament at the committee stage debate of the Transport Ministry that his Ministry was working [...]
The lack of commitment to improve the country’s railway system has been the bane of the Sri Lanka Railway Department, the All Ceylon Railway Employees General Union (ACREGU) alleged.
Chairman, ACREGU, S.P. Vithanage said that due to the lack of hydraulic and power set engines many railway carriages are idling in the railway yards rotting away.
According [...]
1953 was the year, when a new chapter in railway history was made. The Ceylon Government Railway ordered the first ever diesel locomotives to its mainline passenger service. The unforgettable Brush Bagnalls were purchased. Then in 1954 under Colombo Plan, the Canadian Government gifted five locomotives.
The locomotives were called as G12, in Canada and in [...]
(Please find below the full text of the reply which was sent by Dr.Lalithasiri Gunaruwan-General Manager Railway on the “A Tender Bender in the Railway” article published on “The Sunday Leader” on 6/7/08.)
08/07/2008
The Editor,
The Sunday Leader,
24, Katukurunduwattha Road,
Rathmalana.
Dear Sir,
I draw your attention to the above article published in your newspaper, and kindly request you to [...]
Finance Ministry of Sri Lanka, in its annual planning report revealed a major rehabilitation plan to island’s railway service.
According to the report, the railway network that runs over 1,449 km presently carries 64 million passengers and 1.6 million metric tons of goods per year. These amounts represent only 5% of passenger transport and 2% of [...]
The Ministry of Transport has called for worldwide tenders to purchase 15 locomotives to improve the railway service upcountry, said Secretary to the Ministry Nihal Somaweera.
The Railway Department operates around 50 locomotives and there is a shortage of 15. With the new engines a better service could be provided to major destinations in the country”, [...]
