Railway stations islandwide to be enhanced

As part of a new plan to improve railway stations countrywide, the Railway Department said yesterday it had begun a competition for Station Masters to encourage them to establish the cleanest, most beautiful railway stations with the best services.

Railway Department General Manager B.A.P Ariyaratne said the plan was initiated by Transport Minister Kumara Welgama with the intention of beautifying railway stations many of which he said were unclean, did not have adequate staff and were dilapidated and in need of renovation.

He said there were a number of services handled by railway stations in

There are about 160 railways stations and another 150 substations across the country and therefore it is difficult to ensure that all the stations are well-maintained

addition to controlling railway passenger’ related matters such as handling parcels and disseminating messages.

He said the other functions such as the maintenance of stations and cleaning of toilets at the stations were some of the other tasks carried out by the staff at the railway stations. However he said there was a scarcity of staff members to undertake all these services. “There are about 160 railways stations and another 150 substations across the country and therefore it is difficult to ensure that all the stations are well-maintained, which is why we started the competition for Station Mas- ters,” Ariyaratne said.

He said a committee had been appointed to pick six Station Masters as the winners of the competition. The winners would receive a foreign scholarship to undergo training in a Railway Department in a foreign country.

He said the Transport Ministry had requested for Rs. 350 million form the upcoming 2013 budget to further develop and modernise railway stations.

“If we receive adequate funds in the next two years we intend to add more furniture to waiting rooms which were not adequately furnished, provide parking space facilities which were a necessity but are not available right now in railway stations. We also hope to add digital timetabling to keep up with modern technology,” he said.