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| Sunday, 15 May 2005 |
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Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Periodical investments vital for CGR The country's railway needs periodical investments to provide a better quality of service to commuters, which is now facing a severe financial crisis, the Ceylon Government Railways (CGR) said. At present it is in dire need to rehabilitate most of the railway tracks and increase the number of passenger coaches/compartments, which are now very old, its General Manager Priyal de Silva told the Sunday Observer Business. He said that the CGR needs at least Rs 15 billion annually while the government's allocation was only Rs. 8.5 billion from the last budget. According to de Silva the recurrent expenditure of the Department is around Rs 4 billion and Capital expenditure is around Rs 4 billion. This hinders the Railway Department's effort to introduce new technology to the sector, he said. He said that the Railway Department needs to have an up-to-date signalling system,400 new passenger coaches/compartments and new locomotives to provide an efficient service to the people. At present the Department has only 600 coaches. De Silva said that due to the dilapidated condition of railway tracks and trains they have imposed speed limits which has resulted in train delays. He said that the railway communication system is 40 years old and the signalling system is in a dilapidated condition and has not been replaced for 30 years. The cables are on the verge of perish. Due to the poor state of the railway sector, it cannot attract more commuters to reduce traffic snarls in the city, the General Manager said. At present less than 9 per cent of the total population travels by train. This has a tremendous potential if the government develops it, he said. He said that they have to increase the railway fare as diesel prices have increased. At present a commuter pays only 31 cents for a Kilometre. CGR Director Planning S.W. Munasinghe said that their immediate project is to ensure safety in the railway sector. HS |
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