Trinco rail, bus services in deplorable condition- MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 2004, 13:38 GMT]
Trincomalee district Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham brought to the notice of the Transport Minister, Mr. Felix Perera, of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government the deplorable state of train and bus services in Trincomalee. Bus services to resettled villages in the Trincomalee district have been drastically curtailed due to acute shortage of buses thus causing severe transport difficulties to resettled families, the TNA MP complained.

In a letter to the Minister Mr.Perera, Mr.Thurairatnesingham said of the buses deployed in Trincomalee district by the New Eastern Bus Company (NEBC) more than fifty percent of buses are not fit for services as they are garaged for major repairs and other shortcomings.

The NEBC has given Trincomalee depot 42 buses and 22 to Muttur deport but more than half are immobilized due to major repairs of engines, want of tyres and tubes, thus forcing the administration of these two bus depots to drastically curtail outstation services from Trincomalee and Muttur, Mr.Thurairatnesingham pointed out in his letter.

Referring to the train services to and from Trincomalee Mr. Thurairatnasingham said rail services are in a deplorable condition with ill-lit compartments, no drinking water facilities, seats with broken handles and no proper toilet facilities.