Teething problems exaggerated, say IRCON officials

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In an interview with the Sunday Times, IRCON officials said the issues experienced along the Northern railway line were “teething problems” that were being “exaggerated out of proportion”.

“The common man in Sri Lanka is very happy with the project,” said S.L. Gupta, theSri Lanka-based Project Director. “The Railway Department is earning a lot of revenue. The trains are running full.”

Mr. Gupta answered specific questions related to the Northern railway line. He said the cracks in the pre-stressed concrete sleepers were surface ones and had no bearing on their structural strength. He ruled out manufacturing defects “beyond doubt”.

And he said efforts were being made to find out the other probable reasons for the cracks, including flat-wheeled or defective rolling stock.

It was not usual for cracks to appear on pre-stressed concrete sleepers, he admitted, “but it is also not a rare phenomenon”. He claimed that there were “more than 25% cracked sleepers in the stretch where sleepers manufactured in Sri Lanka have been laid”.

Mr. Gupta also said it was not usual for longitudinal cracks to appear on rails, the way they had done in some parts of the Northern line.

The rails were supplied by M/s Steel Authority of India, the sole supplier to Indian Railways. An expert team from SAIL has already inspected the site and samples sent to their research centre in Ranchi, India for testing and evaluation.

“Though these cracks are not affecting the train movement, IRCON has replaced few defective rails and a few have been kept under observation. The cause will be known after investigation.

Referring to the replacement of bridges, Mr. Gupta said five of them had some “metalizing” and painting defect at interface surfaces.

While Ircon proposed a method for rectifying this, the relevant Sri Lankan engineer was not agreeable to it and “rather suggested a methodology which was practically not possible to adopt”.

Left with no option, Ircon decided to replace the “girders” or beams. The manufacture of new beams has already started in India and they will be in place by June this year.

Corrosion has become a widespread problem in the Northern railway line due to the extreme corrosive environment in the Northern Province and “poor maintenance practice by Sri Lanka railway”.

“It may be noted that in similar marine corrosive environment, same type of equipment are performing satisfactorily in coastal areas of India,” Mr. Gupta said.

“In marine corrosive environment, it is very much essential to ensure preventive maintenance which is not ensured here,” he asserted. “Sri Lanka Railways have not applied a single brush of paint in last two years, since taking over of project and revenue operation.

“Ircon has agreed to galvanise these (signals) equipment,” he added. “It is expected that, with this, the corrosion problem shall be arrested provided the Sri Lanka Railway takes up scheduled preventive maintenance as per specifications.”Mr. Gupta said there was no basis for extending the defect liability period as anticipated in some quarters.

Under the contract, the DLP can only be extended when the intended purpose of the project is not served due to a defect. The commercial operations of trains have not been affected.

As such, no such extension of DLP is required. “Not even a single service affecting (signal) failure has taken so far since start of revenue operation of the line,” he concluded.

Mohan Chahar, Ircon General Manager (Signaling and Telecommunication) said nothing has been compromised. Every procedure for operations and maintenance was observed.

But he and Mr. Gupta both claimed that Sri Lanka Railways did not give Ircon permission to do certain improvements. “Equipments are lying in our store and people are sitting idle,” Mr. Gupta said.

“We will not leave any grievance unattended,” he stressed. “We will address everything, we are working aggressively. But Sri Lanka has to ensure the maintenance part and training of their staff.”

“There is also no system in place for procurement, disbursement and transport of maintenance staff,” said Mr. Chahar.