Railway rehab a challenging undertaking

Railway passengers will likely face continuing disruptions across the network for at least the next few months amid a worker shortage and rehabilitation of tracks, Sri Lanka Railway has warned.

As of April 30 this year, a significant amount of train services have been cancelled and there have been 12 derailments, the deputy general manager N.J. Indipolage said.

“Sri Lanka Railways is replacing railway tracks and has begun a tender process for better rail mobility. Retirees have been re-hired to ease the staff shortage.’’

Government budget constraints also impede operations.

Railways General Manager W.A.D.S. Gunasinghe said: “Sri Lanka Railways is a drain on the Treasury. With tight budgets, the Government will face increasing difficulties in allocating adequate resources to maintain, let alone develop the railways.

“The railway is an important component of transport infrastructure and improving its efficiency will contribute to the overall productivity of the economy.’’

Railways Chief engineer (signal and telecommunications) Chinthaka Jayasekera told the Sunday Times: “Railway signals perform an analogous function on the network. A signal failure can result in a number of situations. A track circuit failure and severe corrosion of rail tracks can cause significant train delays. It also leads to safety issues and economic losses. Such intertwined factors contribute to continuous derailments.”

Rolling-stock failures cause delays and disruptions and even catastrophic derailments. Signalling systems are outdated.

Mr. Jayasekera said the effectiveness of rail inspections depended on different factors. “It depends on the skills and experience

of inspectors. Reducing errors is challenging. This mainly depends on the technological limitations of the inspection equipment and the skill level of rail inspectors.’’

In case of large disruptions such as infrastructure failures, rolling-stock breakdowns, and accidents, railway traffic controllers should react rapidly and restore services, he said.

"There are contingency plans to assist traffic controllers deal with disruptions. Each contingency plan corresponds to a specific location and is designed manually by experienced traffic controllers. But, the disadvantage is that they are not based on infrastructure allocations and cannot cover all disruptions across the network." Mr. Jayasekera said mechanical systems were being upgraded and new ways adopted to check cable faults. “Investing in new technologies is vital.’’

He said when importing rolling stock the high-temperature and high-humidity in Sri Lanka should be considered. Staff are a pressing issue. “There were 21,000 employees and it has been cut to 12,000 because of retirements.

And 3,000 were recently recruited, taking the workforce to 15,000. But the shortage persists. There are 5,000-6,000 engine drivers, guards and signalling staff,’’ Mr. Jayasekera said.

Locomotive Engineers Union leader K.U. Konthasinghe said dilapidated infrastructure and lack of maintenance hampered operations.

“There is a shortage of technical staff. Systemic issues including mismanagement and poor governance have led to recurring conditions and we will be going to great lengths to get this improved,” he said. “Although we cannot solve all of the challenges overnight, together with the ministry we are doing our best to help solve the issues. We are working to create durable, reliable, solutions and a better public service.’’

All the same, Sri Lanka must urgently adopt a consistent, integrated national transport policy that considers sustainability. Infrastructure investment, legal changes, new thinking, innovation and political daring will be essential to make a substantial difference in the current scenario, the union leader said.