August 23, Colombo (LNW): Private sector employees will soon be able to apply for railway season tickets through an online platform, with the Government planning to roll out the facility from September.
Transport Minister Bimal Rathnayake said the new service would extend the digital ticketing process already introduced for public sector employees to workers in the private sector.
The move is expected to remove much of the paperwork and queuing that passengers have traditionally faced when applying for season tickets. Under the previous system, employees were generally required to obtain documentation from their workplaces before visiting railway offices to complete the process.
Rathnayake said the digitalisation programme was part of a broader effort to modernise passenger services and make routine transactions with the railway system more convenient.
The Minister, however, acknowledged that improving the overall quality of the railway network would be a considerably larger undertaking. Passengers continue to call for additional trains, greater punctuality and improved conditions on board.
He said many of the railway’s most pressing problems could not be resolved overnight. The procurement of new locomotives, rehabilitation of ageing engines and the modernisation of railway tracks require substantial investment, planning and time, particularly after years in which some necessary work was not carried out.
Management and institutional weaknesses within the Railways Department would also have to be addressed as part of the longer-term reform process, he added.
Meanwhile, the Government intends to focus on changes that can be delivered more quickly. These include improvements to railway stations and passenger facilities, with several upgraded stations expected to be opened in the coming period.
Rathnayake said the authorities were aware that passengers expected visible improvements, but stressed that transforming the railway network would require a phased approach rather than immediate large-scale changes.