CGR on right track :

The Ceylon Government Railway (CGR) has launched a massive development drive to upgrade the railway service considering all aspects of the service, said the General Manager (GM) of the CGR P.T. Wijesekara in an exclusive interview with Sunday Observer. Following are excerpts from the interview:

Reconstruction of Northern railway track

The largest investment has been made for the development of Northern railway track which was abandoned for decades. At the beginning the Government decided to implement the project with local funds. Accordingly the Uthuru Mithuru Fund was launched to obtain public support. It was successful to some extent and Rs. 40 million was collected and also there are commitments for Rs. 600 million from various parties including the private sector as well as Sri Lankan diaspora.

Construction of a railway line

Private donors and organisations have also agreed to contribute for the project. Former parliamentarian Lional Premasiri will sponsor the construction of Omanthai railway station and Presidential secretariat will sponsor the construction of the Jaffna Railway Station.

However, the huge cost of the project estimated at Rs.16 trillion cannot be funded locally. Therefore, the government has decided to get foreign funds to accelerate the project.

The construction of the first 3.5 Km track from Vavuniya to Thandikulam has been completed. The construction work of the 10 Km track from Thandikulam to Omanthai is now under way and it will be completed by May this year.

The next step is the construction of the 90 Km long track from Omanthai to Pallai.

The construction work of this segment will be done by the Indian Railway Construction Company (IRCON), an Indian government owned company. The cost of the project is US$ 180 million (2 million/ km) and it will take two years to complete. The track will be designed for 100 KMPH speed.

The 56 Km long Pallai to Kankesanturai segment is the final phase of the project. It will also be constructed by IRCON. Earlier it was given to a Chinese company. However, later the decision was changed.

The construction of 106 Km long railway track from Medawachchiya to Talimannar will also start simultaneously. The contractor and the cost of construction per Km will be the same.

Apart from the construction of the railway track a new signal system will also be installed for the Northern zone of the railway.This separate signal system will be centralised and controlled from Anuradhapura.This project too will use Indian technology and the proposals are now being evaluated by the Technical Evaluation Committee.

Before the war CGR operated six passenger trains, one cargo train and one oil tanker train between Colombo and Jaffna in addition to regional trains. However, today the demand has been reduced due to the migration.

Therefore, CGR will immediately start four passenger trains, one cargo train and one oil tanker train to the North. Goods transportation commenced last week with a new container train transporting construction materials to Vavuniya. Ten new power sets will also be provided for regional transport services in the North.

Southern railway

Wijesekara said that the phase I of the construction of the Southern railway track has also been commenced and materials have been transported to the site.

The construction of the track between Galle and Matara will be started soon and the train service between Galle and Matara will be fully terminated until the completion of the track.

Phase two of the project from Galle to Kalutara will be carried out without terminating the train service once the construction work beings.

Phase I of the Matara Kataragama railway line from Matara to Beliatta will be constructed by a Chinese company. The project will begin soon. While foreign funds are being used for these new projects CGR’s funds have been channelled to improve the existing service, Wijesekara said.

New power sets

Meanwhile,CGR has invested heavily on improving the rolling stock. New power sets will be deployed for long distance trains, Wijesekara said. Earlier power sets were used for short distance regional services. We tested power sets for long distance services from Matara and Colombo and it was successful. Now we expect to deploy especially designed power sets for long distance trains including upcountry service. We have ordered eight power sets from China for upcountry service and they will arrive here by May.

They have been especially designed for long distance journeys with all facilities. The cost of a power set is Rs. 400 million. CGR has also decided to purchase 15 locomotives and after evaluation of tenders the Technical Evaluation Committee has recommended General Motors engines, which have proven successful in Sri Lanka for several decades.

All other engines other than General Motors engines purchased by the CGR have failed in the upcountry track and therefore CGR recommends General Motors locomotives.

However, they are costly compared to other alternatives and the final decision will be taken by the government.

Wijesekara said that demand for railway service is high but resources are not sufficient to cater to the demand. After the completion of these new projects and improvement of the rolling stocks CGR will be able to provide a better service for the commuters, he said. (GW)