Railway a ticking COVID-19 bomb, warns Station Masters Union

Earlier precautions only observed in the breach

Train commuters were not transported in keeping with the health guidlines and that might lead to the community spread of COVID-19, Sri Lanka Station Masters’ Union (SLSMU) warned yesterday.

President of the SLSMU, Sumedha Somaratne said that the passengers had been asked to write their name, address, telephone number and national identity card number on a piece of paper and to put it into a box at the railway station. This was not a successful arrangement, Somaratne said.

“Sanitation facilities must be in place at the railway stations and passenger information must be gathered accurately. The government has said the number of passengers should not exceed 75% of the carrying capacity of a compartment. But how do we implement this? Do we count the number of passengers?

There is no way to ascertain the exact information on the number of passengers. This is not practical.”

The SLSMU added that the system of issuing train tickets online, which was implemented during the first wave of the COVID-19, was no longer in operation. Under that system passenger information was systematically stored, Somaratne said.

President of the SLSMU added that the efforts of the President, the Security forces and the health sector to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus would be in vain if the Railway authorities did not follow the online ticketing system.

Kasun Chamara, Secretary of the SLSMU, told The Island that the number of railway passengers could increase in the coming week, and a proper plan should be drawn up to collect passenger information, as the increase of passengers could increase the risk of spreading the virus. (RK)