Sri Lanka Railways Forum

Four power sets (S-10 category) imported from China arrived at the Colombo Harbour yesterday.

Seven power sets out of 15 have already arrived in Sri Lanka to strengthen the railway service and provide a comfortable ride to commuters. The total cost of these four power sets is US$ 10.4 million, a Transport Ministry spokesman told the Daily News.

These four power sets will be added to the railway fleet within this month once the trials are completed, he said.

Under the 10-year Railway Development Strategy, 15 power sets are to be imported from China and the first three power sets arrived in Sri Lanka last September. Two power sets out of these three have already been added to the railway fleet.

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 The US$167 million loan agreement between the Transport Ministry and the Indian government would be the initial step towards the privatisation of the railway alleged All Ceylon Railway Employees General Union (ACREGU).

The agreement signed on July 17, 2008 to restore damaged coastal railway lines will not only allow two Indian companies to oversee work on the restoration but also gives them the right to bring down their own workforce. This is bound to impact negatively on the Railway Department said General Secretary, ACREGU Sumathipala Manawadu.

The 300-page agreement has clearly indicated that the Transport Ministry has vested authority to the Indian government to bring its own workforce for the restoration work. But Transport Minister Dulles Alahapperuma has denied this.

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The Railway Department is planning to hire 1000 foreign workers to the Department despite the Department already being overstaffed. The All Island Railway Workers’ Union charged that railway authorities were taking steps to allow a number of foreign companies to bring down some 1000 workers from India to carry out maintenance work on railway tracks in the country.

This was despite the fact that the Department of Railways already has a workforce of 3000 personnel for those duties.  General Secretary of the union, Sumathipala Manawadu, charged that this was a very serious and unjust decision and that they strongly object to it. He said that though foreign workers are to be brought down to maintain a railway track system which runs 1250 kilometres, local railway workers had been able to repair 90 kilometres of railway track which had been damaged in the tsunami within 57 days of the disaster.

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‘Udarata Menike”, a travel magazine based on a journey along the railway track from Colombo to Badulla, exploring nature, history and culture in the hill country is to be telecast every Saturday at 7.30 pm on Rupavahini starting from November 8.

Scripted and directed by award wining TV director, Athula Dissanayake and Mayuri Wanguru, this is the first ever TV travel magazine series on the railway journey from Colombo to Badulla.
 
Dissanayake won Best Current affairs Programme and Best magazine- programme at Sumathi Tele Award 2006 and State TV Award 2007 for his TV programme - ‘Watarawuma’ respectively.

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The Transport Ministry will add 15 power sets (S10 category) imported from China to the railway fleet under its 10-year Railway Development Strategy highlighted in the Mahinda Chintanaya as a major priority.

Accordingly, a power set which completed its trial successfully will make its maiden journey from Colombo Fort on November 1 at 9.00 am.

The total cost of these 15 power sets was US$ 40 million and they have been imported to Sri Lanka after nine years, a spokesman of the Transport Ministry told the Daily News.

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The government hopes to commence an electric train service between Panadura and Veyangoda in the near future. The Power and Energy ministry will setup a special committee to study the use of electricity trains in the country.

Meanwhile an Indian State delegation is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka within the next few days to discuss the construction of the Sampur coal power plant, a senior official of the Power and Energy ministry said. The project is expected to be completed by 2012. 

The construction of the Sampur Power Plant is to commence soon and 1000 MW will be generated from the plant upon completion, the official said.

The power plant will further help reduce the electricity bill of consumers with coal being used instead of petroleum.

sOURCE: Dailymirror