Railway union calls for urgent restoration of night patrols following Wanawasala train derailment

The Locomotive Operating Engineers’ Union has stated that the Railway Department’s night patrol services are currently not being properly carried out and has called for the immediate reinstatement of these services.

The President of the union, Jeeva Gunawardena said that if night patrol duties are properly implemented, incidents of this nature could be prevented in the future.

He further urged the Railway Department to give serious attention to reports and communications made by train drivers based on their observations during operations, particularly those relayed to the control room and other relevant divisions.

According to Gunawardena, prior to the derailment, the driver of a night mail train from Trincomalee that had operated along the same route had informed the railway control room of a possible defect in the signalling system near Wanawasala.

He added that following this notification, the train was stopped and later proceeded based on instructions received from the control room.

He also noted that a subsequent night mail train from Kankesanthurai was halted near the Wanawasala station signal due to delays caused by the earlier train.

The union chief further stated that train number 507, which was later involved in the derailment, had also been stopped at the location before being allowed to proceed.

He said the incident was caused by a defect in the point system connected to the main railway line, which may have been the result of a sabotage-related act.

Gunawardena stressed that the Railway Department should immediately reinstate night patrol services previously deployed by the maintenance division, noting that such patrols are currently not in operation and could help prevent similar accidents in the future.

He also called for greater attention to be paid to warnings and observations made by train drivers during service, and urged that all such reports be treated with due seriousness by the control room and relevant authorities.