News
Near-miss in Egoda Uyana station highlights peril of decaying overhead railway bridges
View(s):Poorly maintained overhead bridges over railway lines at railway stations cross the country pose a threat to both life and limb.
On Thursday, commuters travelling in a train narrowly escaped as the Moratuwa Egoda Uyana railway station’s overhead bridge fell onto the track around 7.45 p.m. It occurred soon after the train to Colombo had just left the station.
We observed that the overhead bridges in Koralawella, Lunawa and Angulana railway stations had not been maintained properly by the Railways Department.
Most of the overhead bridges are about 100 years old, and maintenance work appeared to be a case of patching up broken concrete parts with cement and painting over it.
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- Koralawella
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- The collapsed overhead bridge at the Egoda Uyana railway station and right little or no sign of maintenance of the nearly century old structure
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- Angulana
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- Lunawa
The beams of these overhead passes had cracks, while some of the exposed cables had rusted.
When the Sunday Times asked the Railway General Manager, Dammika Jayasundara, about the state of the overhead bridges at Koralawella, Lunawa and Angulana Railway stations and what remedial action would be taken, he said he had instructed the engineers to provide a detailed report about the condition of all overhead bridges at railway stations. Mr Jayasundara added that thereafter they would look into repairing them.
Pix and text by Rekaha Tharaganai Fonseka
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