Dematagoda factory to build railway compartments - Transport Minister

Uditha Kumarasinghe, Irangika Range and Sandasen Marasinghe

Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma told Parliament yesterday that a new factory is under construction at Dematagoda to build railway compartments locally.

The Minister said at present 652 railway compartments have been abandoned and there is a possibility of repairing nearly 300 compartments.

The Rumanian Government has pledged to repair nearly 325 railway compartments. The Minister was responding to an oral question raised by UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake.

Alahapperuma said in the past train engines have been imported to Sri Lanka without any standard. At present, there are 22 categories of train engines in Sri Lanka.

Even spare parts are not available for some of these train engines. Therefore, steps will be taken to standardise these train engines. “It is a policy enunciated in Mahinda Chinthanaya to transform the railway service into the country’s main transport network,” the Minister added.