A spokesperson for the Railway Department told our website that the cause of the horrific train derailment that occurred not far from the Wanawasala railway station this morning was the removal of a part of the “point” used to transfer trains.
He stated that the accident occurred due to the removal of the metal shaft that operates this point, which connects the railway line built to transport garbage to the Aruwakkaluwa garbage dump and the main road.
He stated that such points are operated by an electric motor, and that this shaft, which is essential for its operation, is designed in a way that can be changed, and this horrific accident occurred due to the removal of it by a person or group.
After the shaft that changes the position of the railway track is removed, the stability of the railway track changes. Due to this, the vibration caused by the movement of a train changes the position of the track, he said. He pointed out that due to such a change in the track, it can be clearly seen that two carriages of the train that was involved in the accident are directed towards the road built towards the garbage dump.
As a result, the train has derailed, and the track and carriages have been seriously damaged in this accident, he pointed out. Railway Department sources say that the number of injuries was kept to a minimum due to the fact that the accident occurred in the early hours of the morning and the train that was involved in the accident was slow.
The sources further say that if an express office train or a postal train had been involved in this accident, the accident would have been so serious that several people would have died.