A sustainable transport policy

Sheila Uduwara

DEVELOPMENT: A country's transport service is a major factor contributing towards that country's development process. The transport service makes a major contribution towards the development of economic, social, cultural and all other sections.

The co-operation of transport workers, commenting public, bus owners as well as service providers is essential for providing an efficient transport service to the public. The objective of 'Mahinda Chintana' is to build a sustained transport policy with the participation of all these sectors.

The public transport system in our country caters to the needs of nearly 73 per cent of the travelling public. Private vehicles cater to the needs of 23 per cent of the commuting public and travel services cater to 4 per cent.

A number of programmes have been launched to give priority to the development of the public transport system. The blueprint for reducing train fares by 15 per cent in accordance with 'Mahinda Chitnana' has now been prepared by the Railways and Transport Ministry.

Parents have expressed their appreciation of Government steps to provide free travel to schoolchildren. Provision of better infrastructure facilities is necessary to offer a sound and streamlined transport service.

A committee has been appointed to study proposals for developing rail roads in the Kandy-Kadugannawa-Gampaha Triangle. Cabinet approval has been granted to the extension of southern railway line from Matara to Kataragama.

The Railway Department has released the necessary workforce for this project. Now land acquisitions are being made for the Matara-Kataragama extension work. Which will be undertaken by a Chinese firm. Feasibility studies have already been completed by the project committee.

The State Engineering Corporation has begun dredging for the Nilwala bridge sub-structure.

There are many strategies and development projects to attract the people to travel by train. Steps are being taken to import 100 new train compartments and 15 power sets to reduce congestion in trains. These will be inducted to Railways by the middle of next year. This will be a great relief to the travelling public.

The coastal railway line was devastated by the tsunami. The Government was able to revive train operations halted on the coastline within 57 days after the tsunami catastrophe. This accomplishment which surprised even foreigners was made possible due to the commitment of rail workers.

The estimated cost of Rs. 1,000 million was reduced to Rs. 450 million within due to the dedicated efforts of the rail workers and the public. This expenditure was incurred to buy new sleepers, cement and rails.

The coastline railway signal system which was inactivated due to the tsunami has also been reactivated. This new signal system referred to as NMA built under a Rs. 1,200 million Netherlands aid scheme can withstand natural disaster like the tsunami.

The contribution made by Railways to the transport sector in Sri Lanka is 58 per cent. A long-term plan has been formulated to increase this by another 8.85 per cent and cargo transport to 10 per cent by 2010.

A new workshop has been opened at the Maradana Railway Yard to repair power sets. This is in addition to the workshop at the Ratmalana machinery workshop.

In keeping with 'Mahinda Chintana' plans have been formulated to transform the Colombo-Chilaw and the Colombo-Anuradhapura railway lines to double lines which will enable trains to be operated at a speed of 100 km per hour. Attention has also been drawn for the development of the Colombo-Galle railway line as well.

The Railway Department has also launched an accelerated programme to repair condemned carriages. Out of 250 condemned compartments 70 have been repaired and reintroduced to the service.

Attention has been drawn towards increasing railway revenue by building luxury homes and shopping complexes near crowded railway stations. About 150,000 people make use of the railway network daily.

Strengthening the railway line network, computerising the ticketing system and a system to display the position of each train for the convenience of passengers awaiting trains are some of the measures purposed to increase railway revenue.

The bus service provides a vital service similar to the railway service. The SLTB handles the State bus service in our country. The State bus service earlier known as Central Transport Board was re-named SLTB in keeping with the request made by the workers.

The Government has decided to indent 5,000 new buses to the SLTB within the next three years. As a first step 2,000 new buss will be added within the next year. Already 600 of them are in operation.

Apart from this 500 buses which were garaged have been repaired and added to the current fleet. 10 regional SLTB workshops are in operation since the Government came into power. They have been inactive for long periods.

A spare parts store has been set up to provide quality spare parts for buses. Streamlined management has enabled. A lady's only bus service was started recently which has been lauded by the women as a measure that offered them dignified status.

The free travel facility provided by the SLTB for schoolchildren has been a blessing for children specially of low income families and a great relief for parents.

New bus services have been started on many routes abandoned by the private bus service. Steps have been taken to sell 1,500 condemned buses by tender and utilise the proceeds for the improvement of the respective depots.

The Motor Traffic Department has earned a revenue of Rs. 700 million through the registration of vehicles during the first half of this year.

As a relief to private bus owners, the National Transport Commission has decided to provide them with a subsidy of Rs. 100,000 each for replacing buses more than 10 years old with new buses. Currently a fleet of nearly 18,000 private buses are in operation for the convenience of the travelling public.

A programme is now under way to transform private bus crews into a disciplined workforce, steps will also be taken to operate SLTB and private buses according to a consolidated time table.

Plans are afoot to extend the Kelani Valley railway line to Hambantota via Ratnapura and Embilipitiya.

The Government's objective is to formulate a sustainable transport policy to provide an efficient and hassle free transport service to the public.