Features
“TRAVEL SAFE – TRAVEL CHEAP – TRAVEL BY RAIL.”
By Rohan Abeygunawardena
ACMA, CGMA: Financial and Management Consultant.
abeyrohan@gmail.com
(This article is dedicated to all those officers and other employees who worked under the late Mr. Rampala, during “Golden Era “of the CGR from the late 1940s’ to 1970 including my father the late Mr. G.A.V. Abeygunawardena)
Above was a marketing campaign slogan based on a concept of the legendary leader of Ceylon Government Railway (CGR) B.D. Rampala to attract passengers for train travel.
Rampala was the first Ceylonese Chief Mechanical Engineer from 1949 and then was appointed to the newly created post of General Manager of Railway (GMR) in 1955. He joined CGR in 1934 as a Junior Mechanical Engineer after completing his engineering apprenticeship at the Colombo University College. In 1956, the Institution of Locomotive Engineers in London recognised him as the finest diesel engineer in Asia at the time (Wikipedia.)
History of Sri Lanka Railway
It was the coffee planters who first felt the need to construct a railroad system in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) in 1842. Under pressure from this elite group of the crown colony, Ceylon Railway Company (CRC) was established in 1845 under the Chairmanship of Phillip Anstruther, the Chief Secretary of Ceylon. The contractor William Thomas Doyne was selected for constructing the 79-mile (123 km) Colombo Kandy railway line and later it was realised that the project could not be completed within the original estimate of £856,557. In 1861, Ceylon Government Railway (CGR) was established as a department and took over the construction work. Guilford Lindsey Molesworth, an experienced railway engineer from London, was appointed as the Director General of the CGR.
It took nearly 22 years to build the first stretch of railroad and run the first train from Colombo to Ambepussa in December 1864. It was then extended to Kandy in 1867, the main request of British Planters. Thereafter to Nawalapitiya, Nanuoya, Bandarawella, and Badulla by 1924. However by 1928, the Matale line, the Kankasanturai (Northern Line), the Southern Coast Line, the Mannar Line, the Kelani Valley Line, the Puttalam Line, the Batticaloa and Trincomalee lines were added to the network.
Golden Era of Sri Lanka Railway
Emphasising punctuality and comfort, major stations outside Colombo were upgraded during the Rampala era. He also introduced an electronic signal system controlled by a centralised traffic control panel in Maradana, which greatly improved safety. In order to popularise rail travel he carried out a marketing exercise of the railway service through a slogan “Travel Safe – Travel Cheap – Travel by Rail.” The objective of this marketing campaign was to attract non-traditional rail passengers, such as women and children, and increase the market share of travellers and improve income of CGR.
Rampala tenure is considered as the ‘Golden Era of Sri Lanka Railways.’ He successfully conducted the grand Centenary Celebrations held in 1964. The main highlight was a refurbished old steam engine driven train, with old carriages, operating from the Colombo Terminus station of Olcott Mawatha to Ambepussa, carrying passengers, driver and guard dressed in late 19th century attire. The train left around 8 a.m. followed by a diesel engine, driven modern train carrying CGR employees and their immediate family members. The writer who was just 14 years was lucky enough to travel in that train with his father who was an officer in the CGR. An exhibition of model trains was also held at Maradana head office for the public. Some of the models were locally made by railroad enthusiasts and CGR engineers while others were imported models owned by locals and foreigners.
In spite of an economic decline in the country Sri Lanka Railways (SLR) continued with the numbers of its passenger services and enjoyed nearly 38% of freight transportation in the early seventies.
But with the introduction of the open economy, the road transportation systems improved and private road transport services that provided door-to-door or warehouse-to-warehouse service captured a bigger chunk of the freight service market of the country. The three-decades-long civil war, non-introduction of technological innovations that improved railway travel worldwide, issues of travel time, reliability, and comfort plagued Sri Lanka Railways said the Chief Engineer (Signal and Telecomunications) Dhammika Jayasundara who delivered the B.D. Rampala memorial lecture in 2017.
US the world leader of railway
transportation:
The US had the best railway transportation system in the world, prior to World War II, with an operating route length over 250,000 km. But after the war, the American auto industry owners came out with a new concept ‘’Freedom on Wheels’’ to get people to use cars. This concept was to promote motor car industry and propagated by the companies in the auto and oil industries to enhance their profits. Initially, they bought up all the street cars i. e. trolleybuses and Tramcars relegating them to junkyards, and embarked on increasing the motor car production.
The government under President Eisenhower, signed a Bill to create the “The National Interstate System’’ and allocated funds for the construction of 41,000 miles of highways and the US shifted from a rail served country to auto dependent nation by the mid-sixties. They dedicated a huge amount of dollars to the construction of automobile infrastructure.
By 2019, the US averaged about 850 cars per one thousand inhabitants. Many countries in the west and Asia emulated the US and constructed highways. Indians, on the other hand continued to improve the railroad transportation system over the years. The Average Sri Lankan was dreaming of owning a car and when the economy was opened up in the late seventies, an influx of motorcars, motorcycles and other vehicles, both brand new and used, invaded the country.
Similarly, the expansion of air travel took place since the fifties, not only in the US but also in other countries. In the US internal air service systems were expanded rapidly for travel between cities.
In Sri Lanka too the government embarked on a project to improve road transport. During the Civil War it was on a low profile but increased construction of highways or express ways after the war from 2009.
Recent developments;
An efficient transport system is an indispensable component of a modern country, no doubt. They provide economic and social opportunities and benefits that result in positive multiplier effects such as better accessibility to markets, employment, and additional investments. Recently, this writer was approached by a group of industrialists to draw up a concept note to obtain land and other facilities from the authorities to set up new factories. One important requirement they emphasised was that location of the land should be close to an expressway. Since they have been into exports this is a fair request as their finished products should be moved to ports and airports as quickly as possible for shipping.
With the development of highways, especially expressways, Sri Lanka Railways (SLR), the market share of passenger and goods transportation has considerably dropped. Chief Engineer Dhammika Jayasundara in his 2017 lecture stated that while SLR’s share of passenger transportation market was only about 5% and goods transportation market share was around 0.3%. It would definitely have deteriorated further by now.
An opportunity for SLR:
But in today’s global economy ‘’time-saving methods” and “reduction of greenhouse gases” are two important factors when considering development projects. Therefore, electrified high-speed train is the best option to switch from air traffic and vehicles. A survey conducted indicates 71% of the younger generation (18 to 44) in the US prefer travelling by high-speed trains if available. Train systems reaching top speed of over 175 to 240 km per hour is generally considered high-speed. A plan is now in place to build a 27,000 km national high-speed rail system in four phases by 2030. The first project is to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles (about 613km) in less than three hours at a speed of about 350km/h by 2033.
When a high-speed train was introduced between Madrid–Barcelona in Spain in 2008, it took 46% of the traffic, grounding fuel-guzzling, carbon-emitting aircrafts across Spain. This high-speed train pulled by an aerodynamic engine with noses shaped like a duck-billed platypus covers 621km trip in two and half hours at a maximum speed of 350 km/h. The train has the capacity to carry 430 passengers per trip and operates four trips a day. This is an eye-opener to the Americans as well as transport authorities of other countries.
The first high-speed train the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, began operations in Japan in 1964 and was widely known as the ‘bullet train’. France commenced their first high-speed train in 1981 and as of June 2021 had a network 2,800 km.
In many developed countries, faced with issues such as aging population, rising fuel prices, increasing urbanization, increasing traffic congestion, rising roadway expansion costs, changing consumer preferences and increasing health and environmental concerns are shifting travel demand from automobile to alternative modes. Motor vehicles are the greatest contributor to urban air pollution, leading to health problems, worse than smoking and the other factor is deaths through road accidents.
Likely alternative is the high-speed train. This is the most cost-effective transportation mode for moving large numbers of people and compared to road and air transportation less risky as far as accidents are concerned. Today, high-speed train systems are being introduced all over the world in countries like India, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran and Morocco. China is the world leader in the construction of high-speed railway systems. By the end of 2020, the Chinese had 37,900 km of high-speed rail lines in service, the longest in the world.
Long-term- plan for SLR
In Sri Lanka, the fastest train service is between Colombo and Beliatta covering 158 km with a maximum speed of 120 km/h. The fastest train ‘Galu Kumari’ takes three and a half hours to cover this distance.
Future generation of sophisticated and knowledgeable Sri Lankans are bound to switch over to train travel and will demand much faster mobility between cities. For example,
if Colombo Jaffna (304 km) travelling can be completed within two hours, instead of present eight hours, there will be lot of economic and social benefits to the country including communal harmony through better interaction. Such speedy travel can only be achieved by rail road or costly air travel, not by motor road vehicles.
However, the capital cost of introducing a High-Speed Railway (HSR) project is very high. The cost structure is mainly divided into costs associated to the infrastructure, and the ones associated with the rolling stock. While infrastructure costs include investments in construction and maintenance of the railroad, the cost of acquisition, operation and maintenance of rolling stock is determined by its technical specifications. SLR engineers and other experts should work out specification suitable for Sri Lanka.
It is necessary for SLR official to take into account the impact on wildlife when planning high-speed train track which British planners had not taken into account during colonial period. As a result, many elephants collide with fast moving trains and perish. According to the Department of Wildlife figures, 15 elephants were killed by trains in 2018, almost more than double the previous year (Mark Saunokonoko – 07 Jan., 2019.) It may be possible for trains to run on cement pillars where the elephant corridors are located.
Taking into consideration the distance from Colombo to Beliatta (158km), Jaffna (304 km) and Kandy (120km) SLR should plan for a total distance of 582 km of high-speed train service. A ballpark figure extrapolated on the basis of Copenhagen–Ringsted line construction, the total cost would be approximately US$ 18 billion. If planned for 20 years this is an average investment of about US$ 900 million per year. The government could approach funding agencies such as the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB),, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funding of the project and to carry out a feasibility study.
The implementation of this project depends on the development of the energy sector. Best option is the development of solar power which can provide free electricity to all, according to renowned Sri Lankan scientist, Prof. Ravi Silva, Director, Advanced Technology Institute at the University of Surrey, who was awarded a CBE for his services to Science, Education and Research. (Reference below)
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is also keen to attract large scale investments in renewable energy, particularly in solar, wind and biomass, over the coming decades.
One may ask whether a country facing economic problems and borrowing crisis should embark on a project of this nature. The answer is in the affirmative. As Asia is expected to rebound faster compared to other regions after the global recession and the pandemic, Sri Lanka has an opportunity to attract investment in the long term. But such investment should be futuristic and in projects that have a greater payoff in the future. The ‘Mahawali Project’ was to be completed in 35 years, but it was telescoped into five years. Similarly, the speed-train project should be a national policy long-term plan, and depending on the economy can be accelerated.
The development of high-speed train does not mean that the government and the Road Development Authority should abandon the development plan of the High Mobility Network or construction of Expressways. It is necessary at present for better connectivity. But a futuristic plan for Sri Lanka Railways should be based on changes taking place, world over.
The implementation of such a modernisation project will help realise the vision of the late B.D. Rampala ‘Travel Safe – Travel Cheap – Travel by Rail’. It will also justify the need to continue with the railway services without heavy subsidies and be a burden on taxpayers’ money.
References;
(Let the Sun Shine: Do not let a photon go to waste without benefit to mankind https://www.timesonline.lk/opinion/let-the-sun-shine-do-not-let-a-photon-go-to-waste-without-benefit-to-mankind/158-1120004 .)