Facelift for coastal railway stations
by Lalin Fernandopulle
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Dullas Alahapperuma
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The Ministry of Transport has planned to modernise all railway
stations along the coastal belt in collaboration with the private sector
which will be authorised to construct multi-storey buildings at the
stations and renovate them.
The first phase of the project will include 12 railway stations where
the private sector companies will be called upon to construct multi-storeyed
buildings at the station where the first three storeys will be owned by
the Railway Department.
Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said Cabinet approval has been
obtained to implement the mega project with the participation of the
private sector.
Railway stations had been poorly maintained and the standards were
not satisfactory to provide an efficient transportation service to the
public. The facilities and the quality of service in railway stations
needs to be upgraded urgently to ensure a better transportation service,
the Minister said.
He said the Railway Department has prime lands that have the highest
value but the Department has not been able to make use of them in a
profitable manner. The income from the Railway Department lands is less
than 0.8 percent.
The Railway Department incurs an annual loss of Rs. 7.5 billion. The
Department's annual income is around Rs 2.5 billion.
The number of employees in the CTB is over 42,000 whereas the Board
has only around 4,200 buses where it has to maintain 10 employees from a
single bus. On the contrary the private sector has over 19,000 buses and
41,000 employees, he said.
"With the implementation of the project there will not be a need to
burden the commuters with railway fare hikes for the next 10 years. All
railway stations will have modern facilities and the public could have a
hassle free transportation system," he said.
The Minister said a Singaporean company has already agreed on the
concept and is willing to support the project.
The Ministry has plans to buy 15 power sets and 100 carriages on a
soft loan from China which will reach Sri Lanka next month.
The Minister said that the Kelani Valley railway track will be
renovated to operate a double rail track service. The modernisation of
the Kelani Valley railway stations will include a new ticketing and
signal system. The Department will do away with the present speed
limits.
He also said that his ministry will not bow down to political
pressure or exert influence to employ members to the Department and that
he will resolve the longstanding issues regarding appointments,
promotions and salary anomalies.
The Ministry has called on all its officials to practise austerity in
their overseas tours in opting to travel economy class and that all
functions be held in state venues and not star class hotels.
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