Novel scheme to repair damaged railway compartments

A novel scheme of repairing damaged railway compartments by entrusting the work to existing Railway employees on a contract basis is to be introduced by the Railways Ministry shortly.

The scheme to be operated outside the normal duty hours of railways employees is expected to cut down delay and wastage and expedite the process of bringing damaged compartments back on track.

Railways, Transport, Petroleum and Petroleum Resources Development Minister A.H.M. Fowzie disclosing this novel scheme to railway employees during an inspection tour of the Railway workshops at Dematagoda yesterday, said a brand new railway compartment is estimated to cost nearly Rs. 20 million to Rs. 25 million.

Under this scheme a railway compartment could be repaired and put back in service at almost one third of that cost.

Under the present system only about 25 compartments are being repaired monthly, under the new scheme it is hoped to get a compartment repaired within two days by extending the repair service to Ragama too and engaging employees on contract basis after normal duty hours from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Fowzie said. The estimated cost of repairing each compartment will be divided equally among the employees engaged in the repair work.

This will not only enable the Railways to save funds but also ensure an additional income to railway employees. During the tour, Fowzie visited all units of the workshops including Bridges, Buildings and Signals units.

The Minister who observed that 25 heavy iron crankshafts have disappeared form the workshops noted that such thefts cannot occur without the connivance of railway employees.

He said such items cannot be moved away without using a vehicle for transport and instructed security staff to keep a close check on vehicles moving in and out of the workshop to prevent such thefts.

General Manager of Railways K.A. Premasiri accompanied the Minister during this tour.