Transport Minister seeks private sector assistance to secure over 300 railway crossings

Minister of Transport Bandula Gunawardene says that measures will be taken to secure over 300 unprotected railway crossings across Sri Lanka within two months.

Speaking in the parliament today (May 24), Minister Gunawardene pointed out that the total number of completely unprotected railway crossings in Sri Lanka is 330.

“There are a total of 1,177 railway crossings across the island. Among them, 438 level crossings have been protected with colour lights and 434 with bells and lights.”

However, the minister further emphasized that 100 more railway crossings will completely be secured during the renovation activities of the Northern railway line.

“The rest is 330 crossings,” he said, adding “There are 04 totally unprotected level crossings on the coastal line, 30 on the Kelani Valley line, 24 on the Puttlam Line and 101 on the Main Line”.

Minister Gunawardene also expressed that the Ministry of Transport has mentioned that bamboo gates will be provided to secure those unprotected crossings.

“However, this is not the response. I carried out a personal study into this issue. A number of lives have been lost due to unprotected railway crossings recently”, he claimed.

Gunawardene, who expressed that there has been a huge cost of around Rs. 4 million per railway crossing to establish colour lights or gates, claimed that the relevant cost is estimated to be around Rs. 8 million at present.

Furthermore, the minister stated that the State Engineering Corporation, together with Mr. Harsha Subasinghe, who has contributed to several new innovations including the production of ‘Vega’; South Asia’s first all-electric super car, has looked into the matter on his request, and presented a project to complete the construction of all 330 unprotected railway crossings in two months.

“The cost is only Rs. 1 million per level crossing”, he added.

However, he highlighted that neither the Treasury nor the Railways Department can afford that cost at the moment, adding that therefore, the National Council for Road Safety will provide Rs. 0.5 million per railway crossing, while the remaining cost needs to be obtained from the private sector.

“Therefore, I invite the private sector entrepreneurs to provide us with the remaining amount as a social service. We will provide the opportunity to publish their commercials”, he said. 

The minister stated that they would be able to deploy individuals for the operation of the rail gates from the Multi-Purpose Development Task Force. 

“Thereby, we expect to complete this project with the assistance of both state and private sector within two months”, Minister Gunawardene added.