Railway trade union alliance complains of substandard carriages imported from India

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Successive governments had wasted hundreds of millions of rupees by importing substandard railway carriages from India, the railway unions alleged yesterday.

The Railway Trade Union Alliance co-convener, S.P. Vithanage said that 160 carriages were ordered through an Indian credit line by the yahapalana administration. These were imported between 2017 and 2018, he said.

“Now all the carriages are here, and these are very low quality products. The materials used to manufacture the carriages are substandard. Already there are many issues with the carriages. Most of them have rusted and are coming off at the seams,” he said.

Vithanage said that those carriages could not be used on all railway tracks, especially on upcountry lines.

“We have more than enough carriages. We have got seven types of Indian carriages. 82 of the carriages are for passengers travelling on third class and second class tickets. One carriage cost over USD 580,000. The air-conditioned carriages (35) were purchased at USD 800,000 each. Most of these could have been built here and at better quality,” he said.

Vithanage said that the government should establish a factory to produce railway carriages here. Sri Lanka had the technology to produce railway carriages that were suited for the country, he said.