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Railways face derailment without funds - GM

by Rajmi Manatunga

Railway authorities warn that the train service could no longer be continued if sufficient funds are not immediately allocated for its maintenance.

General Manager of the Railway Department Priyal de Silva said the service will soon become non-viable due to lack of funds, especially for purchasing essential items such as compartments and engines and repairing railway tracks and signal systems.

He said the department could not guarantee the safety of commuters and the reliability of the service as government funds allocated for the railway have been gradually decreasing during the past few years.

"The railway service has not received sufficient investment and adequate support since the 1970s. As a result, it has become an inefficient and unreliable service which is not capable of meeting the demands of commuters.

We need at least 10-15 more power sets, proper signal systems and around 1,000 more compartments to reduce congestion in trains," he said, observing that not even one compartment has been added after 1993. Most of the railway lines (nearly 6000) needed to be repaired for which the Department had to purchase about 40,000 cubes of rocks annually.

"If the service cannot be maintained any longer we will have to look for other alternatives to continue the service," he added.

Rs. 3.5 billion is allocated for the railway per year, but it earns only around Rs. 1.4 billion.

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