Coastal railway line could shut down? ; no dollars to import rail tracks!

There is a risk of the coastal railway line having to be closed down due to the dilapidated condition of the tracks from Pinwatta to Angulana and the shortage of dollars to import rail tracks to replace the damaged line, the Convenor of the Railway Union Alliance S.P. Withanage pointed out.

He alleges that the trains are being operated on the coastal line at high risk, and that the administration has not taken any action in this regard.

He further revealed that most of the rail tracks are in a dilapidated state but there is a shortage of dollars required to import new tracks. In addition, he claims that the Railway Department also has no money to purchase the timber, cement, sleepers and metal that is required for the maintenance of the railway tracks.

The railway union alliance emphasizes that the cadre requirement is around 20,222 employees in the railway department, but as of now there aren’t even 13,000 employees. As a result, he pointed out that a huge crisis has arisen as there is a shortage of workers at the railway factories and yards and has also hampered the maintenance work at the railway stations and railway lines.