Development must essentially be a continuous process that is not impacted by changes in the political landscape. There has been a tendency in this country to stop the development projects of the previous Government solely on political grounds and even out of spite. For example, the previous Government elected in January 2015 put on hold many projects including the Port City project. Fortunately, sanity prevailed and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe even became its biggest proponent, espousing its benefits in many foreign capitals.
President Maithripala Sirisena has made it clear that all development projects initiated in the last few years must go ahead without any interruption. In fact, even amidst the fast-changing political developments in Colombo, he took time out to personally supervise several development and welfare projects. This is indeed a praiseworthy move.
Being an emerging economy, Sri Lanka has limited domestic funds for development. This is where our international partners come into the picture. Many friendly countries including India, China, Japan, UK, USA and EU nations have been assisting our development projects. One of the prime areas for foreign investment is the transport sector comprising roads and railways. We reported yesterday that the extension of the Southern Expressway to Mattala is nearing completion while the extension of the Southern railway line to Kataragama is also literally on track for completion by the target date.
The railways have the potential to be a much bigger player in the passenger and goods transport sector. But Modernisation is essential for this to happen. This will receive a boost next week when the Indian Railways exports the first state-of-the-art Diesel Multiple Units (DEMU) train rakes to Sri Lanka.
The first rake is part of an export order of six rakes of DEMU to Sri Lanka. As part of the order, Integral Coach Factory Chennai will manufacture six DEMU rakes consisting of 78 coaches in five variants. The order is being jointly executed by the Indian Rail Company RITES and ICF under an India-Sri Lanka economic cooperation agreement.
There will be three different types of coaches -- AC Executive Class, Second and Third Class - and, as per the Sri Lanka Railways requirement, they will only have seating facility. The DEMU rake is powered by a 1,800 HP onboard engine and has a newly-designed stainless steel aerodynamic front end to reduce drag at high speeds.
There are many first time features in the new DEMU coaches to make it contemporary and on par with Metro trains. The new features include plush interiors, a GPS-based passenger information system in all coaches, halogen-free rubber flooring, individually revolving seats, facility for driver announcements and individual audio controls for AC class passengers. Many of these features will be seen in our railway system for the first time.
Each DEMU rake consists of 13 cars in a combination of two driving power cars with economy class seating, two driving trailer cars with economy class seating, two air-conditioned chair cars with rotatable seats, two business class chair cars and five economy class coaches. The AC first class coach can accommodate 52 passengers, the economy car can accommodate 90 and the Business class coach has a capacity of 64 passengers.
Sri Lankan and Indian Railway engineers working on the project have addressed another concern – corrosion of exterior parts. Since Sri Lanka has large portions of rail lines along coastal areas, rail coaches are prone to corrosion. Thus the car body along with all interior fittings has been made of authentic stainless steel and special paint has been used on the coaches and under-frame to prevent corrosion. The body will be painted with special high class anti-graffiti paint that will be appealing and long lasting.
This latest addition to the Sri Lanka Railway will no doubt help attract more passengers especially on long distance routes such as Matara, Anuradhapura, Jaffna, Batticaloa and Trincomalee. The train is a much more comfortable and less time consuming alternative to the AC buses and many car owners are also likely to take the train given the multitude of comforts available in the new compartments. The plush new trains should be heavily promoted at least in the initial stages to attract more passengers including foreign tourists.
The authorities must also move ahead with two other railway projects – the electrification of parts of the main line (say, from Aluthgama to Polgahawela) and the seven-line Light Rail Transit (LRT) project in Colombo and main suburbs. Both projects have the potential to be game changers in the transport industry. We have been talking about electrification from 1948 itself, with nothing actually happening. This time, words must be translated into action.
The LRT will perhaps be the biggest transport project ever to be undertaken in Sri Lanka, with the first line from Malabe to Colombo due to begin construction in 2020. This has the potential to drastically reduce traffic congestion in and around Colombo, as many car owners are likely to hop on board the LRT, which can reduce commuting times by at least one hour. We must reap the maximum benefits of the coming railway revolution.
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