Deteriorating railway service

It is with a sense of frustration and great pain of mind that I write these few lines to impress on the General Manager of Railways the pathetic condition of the train travellers on the coastal line face.

Hardly a day passes without the commuters having to waste time at railway stations awaiting for the arrival of trains to reach their places of work on time. Trains are cancelled at the whim and fancy of some officer or other in charge of running trains.

Take for instance March 23, 2003. I arrived at the Moratuwa railway station at 7.30 a.m. when to my surprise I found more than 1,000 people waiting for the arrival of a train. At 8.15 a.m. Samudra arrived, which does not stop at Moratuwa and it was announced that this train would go slow at all railway stations up to Maradana. But alas, the train was packed to capacity and not even more than 50 people could board this train. At 9.00 a.m. another train arrived which was not so crowded but it reached Kollupitiya railway station at 10.00 a.m. This is a recurring drama played by the railway. I like to tell the GMR to visit a railway station and speak to the commuters and only then would he find out the real situation.

People are really disgusted with the way the trains are run. As I said earlier, hardly a day passes without trains being delayed.

Look at the state of our stations. Lunawa, Angulana and Ratmalana railway stations are minus roofs. The roofs of these stations have been removed but not replaced. All these stations are in a dilapidated condition. The GMR if you do not have the finances write to the government and get the necessary funds. Surely the GMR is aware of the agony the people undergo during wet weather.

It is therefore sincerely hoped that these shortcomings would be looked into and immediate remedial action taken.
Austin de Silva
Moratuwa.