VALUABLE RAILWAY ARTIFACTS IN DANGER

The Railway Trade Union Alliance (RTUA) expressed concern about the damage caused to the railway engines and compartments displayed as artifacts in the Kadugannawa open air railway museum.

RTUA convener S.p.vithanage said a conspiracy was being hatched by a racketeer with the help of senior officials of the Railways Department to run a private sector railway museum and that was why they had damaged the artifacts so that they could be transported to Colombo.

He said the RTUA had revealed the ongoing racket through the media. Mr. Vithanage said the S3 type engine No.613, the first railway compartment and several other artifacts including old railway engines and compartments had been extensively damaged.

“Kadugannawa Railway museum was of immense benefit to the people who take interest in the history of the railways, those researching the subject and schoolchildren. However, the senior officials of the department under the pretext of achieving various objectives are attempting to make the railway museum their private property,” he said. Mr. Vithanage requested the government to put an end to the ongoing racket and safeguard the Kadugannawa railway museum and urged that a formal investigation be conducted and the damage caused to the artifacts be assessed.

Meanwhile, the old railway engines and compartments that formed a cross section of the history of the railways department have been left to the mercy of the elements for a long time. They said the railways department which was modifying railway platforms all over the county at a colossal expense had failed to provide shelter to the Kadugannawa Railway Museum.