Sri Lanka Railways Forum

Sri Lanka Railway possesses many different kinds of locomotives. The age of which varies from 5 to 52 years. General Motors and Alco are more popular models due to their reliability; other engines used are Paxman Valenta, Caterpillar and Ruston.

The H.P. of running line locos vary from 1000 H.P.-2400 H.P. MTU 1200 H.P. engines are used in the diesel multiple units. In order to provide a satisfactory service 100 locos and 50 multiple units are required.

Average lifespan of a loco/multiple unit is 30 years. The price of a loco is Rs. 220 million compared to Rs. one million in 1969, the price of a multiple unit with a power car, four coaches and a dummy is Rs. 250 million. The requirement of carriages for loco hauled trains and multiple sets is 1,000 carriages.

Most of the carriages in use are Romanian type, while Indian and Chinese carriages are also used. Average lifespan of a carriage is 20 years. This means every year 50 carriages require to be replaced with new carriages. Has this happened over the years?

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The Railway Department’s General Manager, Dr. Lalithasiri Gunaruwan said that discussions are under way to purchase 20 power sets from India under a credit line.

India has also pledged a concessionary loan facility to improve the Southern railway line under the tsunami reconstruction. The Indian power sets are in addition to the 15 power sets ordered from China that are to arrive in Colombo by mid next year.

Twenty-five carriages of the 75 ordered from China arrived last month and the others are due to arrive in the country by the end of this year.

Source: Sunday Observer

In a positive development in the country’s rail system, an experimental run of two Chinese carriages was carried out successfully by the Railway Department recently.

The experimental run was carried out in order to determine whether the carriages are fit to run on the country’s existing railway lines.

Speaking to The Morning Leader, General Manager, Sri Lanka Railway (SLR), T. L. Gunaruwan said that the carriages from China are in a far better condition than the existing carriages and they passed the initial test from Colombo to Matara recently. Gunaruwan said “There are no problems so far and we’ll soon introduce the rest of the carriages to the trains.”

Gunaruwan added that 100 carriages have been ordered from China and 25 have been brought down to be added to the trains. Each of these 96-seat carriages cost Rs.30 million.

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Sri Lanka Railway Department General Manager Lalithasiri Gunaruwan says that discussions are underway to purchase 20 power sets from India under a credit line.

India has also pledged a concessionary loan facility to improve the Southern railway line under tsunami reconstruction.

The Indian power sets are in addition to the 15 power sets ordered from China that is to arrive in Colombo in mid 2008. Twenty-five carriages of a 75 batch ordered from China arrived last month and the rest is to arrive in the county by the end of this year.

Railway Department is considering importing three engines to transport Ceylon Petroleum Corporation fuel tankers and two more engines for repair work.

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Minister Dulles Alahapperuma is optimistic of making the train service the country’s leading passenger transport service as assured in the “Mahinda Chintana”.

Speaking at a ceremony organised to introduce the new railway carriages imported from China to service, the Minister said this was only a beginning. He recalled that the President in launching the “Mahinda Chintana” in November 2005 gave a prominent place to strengthening the state transport sector. He said that a colossal sum of money was being spent on the import of carriages, locomotives and power sets in the midst of a struggle against terrorism.

243 carriages are needed to maintain a streamlined service. Such a need has arisen as new carriages had not been introduced to the service after 1992. The government, drawing its attention to this dire need, took initiatives to import new carriages suitable for the country.

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Sri Lanka Railway’s Ruhunu Kumari express train that leaves for Matara from Colombo, Maradana railway station at 3.40 PM, tomorrow will be coupled with nine of the newly imported 25 railway carriages from China, announced the Railway Department.

Three of these third class carriages will be put for the second class temporarily since the ordered second class carriages have not arrived yet. The existing second class compartments are far lower in quality than the new third class carriages.

Each of these 96-seat carriages was priced at Rs. 30 million.

Update: SLR Forum Team was present at the Maradana railway station on 21/10/2007 to check on the new carriages but as we expected there were no new carriages on the Ruhunu Kumari express train. We expect the new carriages to be added tomorrow.

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