Part I, II and III of the series on Colombo Suburban Railway Project (CSRP) and the Colombo Suburban Efficiency Improvement Project, published on http://www.drwingler.com, deal with the features of the Kelani-Valley (KV) Railway trace in the Colombo suburban area.
Since long the author suggests renovating this railway with Meter-Gauge and Y-shaped ThyssenKrupp Steel-Sleepers, as well to render the commuter train service with modern Light Weight Diesel Rail-Cars of Type Stadler-Bussnang, Switzerland, with middle module Diesel-electric power-pack traction instead with the heavy power-sets Class S8, S9, S19, S11 or S12.
Modern Light Weight Rail-Car Technology (see INNOTRANS 2018, 18-21. 09, Berlin, Germany) and Y-shaped Steel Sleepers make it possible to operate high capacity commuter rail-services on Meter-Gauge and as well on 760 mm (2 ½ feet) Narrow-Gauge as demonstrated by advanced railways in North Spain, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
Before Electrification can come on Srilankan tracks, the main problems, shortcomings, deficiencies and bottlenecks of Sri Lanka Railway have to be addressed, as there are:
- Ailing poor ballasted rail-tracks on narrow, badly drained and yielding formation of low bearing capacity.
- Unfavorable track layout-designs, especially in the Colombo area, with outdated designs of turnouts and crossings on tottered planks.
- Complicated Multi-Aspect (about 60 valid aspects in use) colour light signalling without any train protection.
- Improper and neglected repair, service and maintenance of rolling stocks.
- Neglected and missing repair, service, maintenance, examination and certification of train-brakes systems before dispatching for a run with passengers.
To read more about applicable guidelines and solutions, download: CSRP, PART IV, PDF