Reserving seats on trains

Recently my wife and I took the 06.05 a.m. train to Batticaloa from the Fort Railway Station. Although I had bought 2nd class tickets, on boarding the train I realised that there were no vacant seats for us. So we had to decide between travelling while standing in the second class or be seated in the third class. We opted for the latter and there were several others including some foreigners who did likewise. It is a shame that train commuters who have paid for second class travelling have to travel third class because of the non-availability of vacant seats.

Now my question to the railway authorities is why is it that they do not have reserved seats for those travelling long distance in all the so called express trains? I understand that seat reservation is possible in some trains, but not in all long distance trains. If the seat reservation facility is available for all long distance trains, especially for the so called express trains, travellers will know for certain that they will be able travel to their destinations seated in the relevant class for which they have paid for.

If Sri Lanka is to keep pace with the rest of the developing countries, I believe having a system in place to facilitate seat reservations on all long distance trains would be a step in the right direction.

M. Joseph A. Nihal Perera