Twenty more DMU’s to arrive from India
Twenty powersets will be imported from India under the Indian Credit Line next year to complement the 15 to be imported from China.
These 35 powersets will augment the present train services by end 2009 to ensure a comfortable ride for commuters, said Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma.
Conducting a press briefing in the Kandy-Colombo Intercity Train on Tuesday, Minister said that the Government will spend nearly Rs.10 billion to purchase the 35 power sets.
The 15 power sets manufactured in China will arrive in Sri Lanka by August. He said each power set will comprise six coaches with the engine unit costing of Rs. 350 million.
He said that the agreement has already been signed for the purchase of power sets adding that once the power sets are linked to the system it will help ease congestion to a great extent.
He said only 30 powersets are being operated presently and it is not enough for the comfortable ride of commuters.
“The shortage of rail carriages and locomotives is a major problem faced by the Department. Only 50 trains operate at present and it is not enough to provide a satisfactory service to the public,” he said.
It has been estimated that the service requires at least 280 trains to carry out its daily operations efficiently, he said.
Three new observation saloons will be attached to the Kandy-Colombo train by end March to facilitate local and foreign commuters to observe beautiful slights in the hill country.
“We are attaching 100 new railway coaches to the local train service to address the severe dearth of carriages in the state transport sector,” he said.
He said new power sets will be attached to the short distance-train services mostly for the office trains run in Colombo and suburbs.
The new carriages adopting the latest technology provide more comfort. The stainless steel compartments provide high protection to the commuters. It is timely action to purchase new carriages as one of the Ministry’s first tasks,” he said.
He said the State transport sector should be developed according to the latest world trends.
By Irangika Range
Source: Daily News
Tags: carriages, commuters, dearth, kandy, latest technology, local train, locomotives, observation, railway coaches, saloons, satisfactory service, stainless steel, timely action, train service, train services, trains, transport minister, transport sector
