Railway dept. web page not updated; commuter complaints galore: SLRSMU

Considering the heaps of complaints from railway commuters, the Sri Lanka Railway Station Masters' Union (SLRSMU) today requested the Railway Department General Manager (GMR) to take immediate action to update the department's official web page.

A letter in connection with this was sent to the GMR claiming that the website has not been updated since five years. The SLRSMU reminded that a dedicated staff should be assigned to manage the website and ensure proper update which are useful for the commuters.

It has been observed that the purpose of publishing all the official information of the Railway Department on the website and efficient interaction with the passengers has been regretfully forgotten.

At present, most of the people living in our society are more familiar with the latest technology and they make use of it quite wisely to get on with their daily life with ease and efficient.

However, other public and private sector organizations have now succeeded in taking their services closer to the people who are using the modern technology.

It is very sad that the railway department, which has a proud history of over 150 years, is still lagging way behind in terms of utilising the modern technology which is available at hand. Although we have constantly reminded  the importance of this need many times, the department has not shown its willingness to move ahead to embrace the technical transformation. The main drawback that we face here is that the train schedule which is published on this website is not accurate.

There are numerous errors and inaccuracies in the present timetable, and it does not show any update on new timetables, schedules etc. It is immaterial as to how many times this shortcoming has been brought to the notice of the relevant authorities, due to the "fear of using the technology" instilled in them, they continue to ignore it.

The young community is used to visiting the official website to find the running schedule of the trains. But when the scheduled time and other information given therein are inaccurate, the commuter who arrives at the station with wrong information in hand, becomes dismayed and heaps the blame on the station masters on duty. This causes a great deal of embarrassment to us. Also, most of the locals and other tourists who are coming from overseas often plan their trips according to the information available on the website.

But when the information they get is inaccurate, they are in a great mess, and it is obvious that the department and the country at large will lose its dignity.

Therefore, the SLRSMU requested the GMR to provide swift solutions and to address this shortcoming to provide a better and efficient service to the railway commuters. We, as an association, have also expressed our willingness to extend our best possible support to the railway department on behalf of the commuters who had patronised us for over 150 years," the SLRSMU concluded. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)