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| Friday, 4 June 2004 |
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Transport Minister Felix Perera vowed to take stern action against those responsible if the cause of yesterday's derailment was proved to be sabotage.He said officials would be briefed today in order to carry out further investigations. Angry commuters yesterday protested as yet another train ran off the track at the Fort Railway Station. It was one of a number of derailments witnessed recently inconveniencing the public and causing them hardship, fear and anxiety. On Wednesday, the Rajarata Rejini train from Vavuniya to Matara was derailed between the Maradana and Fort Railway stations -the third train derailment reported within 24 hours. A goods train was derailed between Botale and Wilwatte around noon on Tuesday while the Udarata Menike was derailed between Ihala Kotte and Kadigamuwa the same evening restricting the train services on the main line. Transport Ministry Secretary Dr. D.S. Jayaweera, told the Daily News that there were a number of reasons for this state of affairs. He said there had been no proper maintenance of the railway tracks during the past few years and even the routine check ups had not been carried out. "We are doing our best to put the tracks back in order to keep the schedules uninterrupted," he added. "There is an unbearable burden on the tracks as they have not been maintained properly." "The lack of sufficient funds is one of the reasons. There may be other reasons contributing to this state of affairs and we have called for a report from the General Manager," he added. Train services were interrupted yesterday as there were two derailments on Mahawa-Colombo and Galle-Colombo lines. A spokesman for the Fort Railway Control room said that by afternoon yesterday the tracks were cleared for the trains to resume normal operations. |
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