CHAPTER 3

DATA COLLECTION

3.1 Railway Network in

Data obtained from SLR related to the rail network is summarized and illustrated in table given below. Table 3.1 Summary of existing Rail Network

Rail Line Length No s . Protected Level Km Crossings 291(-) 67 line 120(-Puttalam) 152 KV line 59(Colombo- 69 Avissawella) 34( – Matale) 11 Coast line 160 (Colombo- Matara) 189 Trincoalee line 70(Galoya – 23 ) line 212(Mahawa- Baticaloa) 34 Nothern line 184(- 78 Vavuniya) Total 623

Source: .

Note: Number of level crossings in above table includes only the controlled crossings.

3.1.1 The systems adopted for data collection

The data collection in this research involved field visits, surveys, interviews, collecting data from SLR sources, literature reviews etc.

Under field visits around 125 rails crossings were observed in Colombo Area, Southern Province, Upcountry Area, Trincomalee District and photographs were taken at locations contributed for delay as well as in good sections (very few). Special attention was given on main line as it involves multi tracks in most of the locations.

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In addition to the photographs, all the important points / issues related to delay and safety such as surface defects, visibility problem, alignment related issues were noted down in each locations. Random interviews were made with road users, residents of surrounding areas, gate keepers, rail passengers and officials of SLR whenever required. In collecting data especially on approaches (to address alignment related issues) to the crossings in order to ensure the starting delay of vehicles just after the rail gate is open (after the gate closer for rail passing) was also noted down. Attention was paid on places where horizontal alignment improvement would have to be addressed. All the data collected were categorized and analyzed. The evaluation results are given under tables 4.1 to 4.4 of chapter 4.

In addition to the above data collection made by spending short time periods at each location, another six locations were selected for calculation of estimated delay based on the data collected at each location. One hour period was spent at each location on collecting the travel times of road vehicles on both approaches to the particular track /tracks by employing few personals with stop watches. At the same time travel time of road vehicles in particulars area was measured in order to calculate the average vehicle speed. Steps involved in conducting the survey and calculation part (sample calculation) is given under 4.3 of data analysis.

3.2 Types of Level Crossings in Sri Lanka

According to Sri Lanka Railways there are four types of controlled level crossings as follows. • Colour light signaling with automatic barrier. • Electrically operated bell light. • Mechanically operated barriers with semaphore signals operated form cabin. • Manually operated barriers. • Unprotected level crossings.

During the surveys and field visits made for data collection, the following types of level crossings were observed in different areas in the country.

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• Fly Overs ( Over Head Bridges)

Fly over bridges were observed mainly over main railway lines due to reasons given below.

Ragama - This has been constructed as the Ragama Teaching Hospital, Medical Faculty and the Town area are situated just after the railway crossing. Since many trains are supposed to pass Ragama station the rail gates were subjected to kept closed at frequent intervals. According to the hospital sources many deaths were recorded due to the delay at railway gate before the construction of this over head bridge.

Dematagoda, , Orugodawatta - These have been constructed purely because of elimination of road traffic congestion and reducing the queue lengths accumulated and also to save the time and fuel cost spent on said issue.

• Crossings with Signal Lights and Gates This type was observed mostly where the main rail lines intersect the A or B class roads and in town areas and also at places where the road traffic is considerably high. The main purpose is to ensure the safety of road vehicles and pedestrians. • Signal Lights Only In places where installation & maintenance of a gate is practically difficult (due to uneven vertical alignments or at narrow road sections) or the road traffic volumes were considerably low. Eg. D & E class roads. • Gates Only According to the SLR sources as the installation of signal lights are costly at each and every location the different types of gates were introduced depending on the road traffic volume. It was also observed that only light traffic was experienced at those locations.

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• Under Passes Width and the height of these underpasses varied depending on the traffic demand. Some underpasses were restricted for vehicles while the others were for pedestrians. Vehicle underpasses were observed at crossings where the railway embankments were situated at higher level and the roads were to be intersected at lower levels.

• Unprotected Crossings These were found mostly in village areas where the vehicle traffic is very low. However it was observed that in safety wise these are still risky. According to the people living in the areas, those unprotected crossing are now being replaced by gates or signal lights in densely populated areas. However warning signs were observed at many locations.

3.3 Details of Surveys and Data Collection

3.3.1 Surveys for Delay issue

Gathering of data related to the delay during crossing was the most important activity in this research.

Many reports related to safety risks and related issues were found during literature surveys but written information regarding this particular situation i.e. causes for delay at rail crossings when the gate is open is hardly available. Even in countries around the world, very little information /findings were available. Possible data were downloaded from the Internet through Google Earth and Yahoo.com web sites. As such the data collection for this survey took several months as many locations in different parts of the country were to be visited. About 125 numbers of railway crossings of different types were visited and relevant observations and collected data at 42 numbers of highlighted locations involved for delay issue have been summarized and tabled under chapter 4. The pictures of relevant issues are provided for evidence and references (Fig. 3.1 to 3.10).

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3.3.2 Surveys for Risk of safety

The objective of railway level crossing safety is to reduce the damages and cost of crashes between trains and road users by the most cost effective means (National railway level crossing safety strategy, Australian transport council- August 2003). With respect to the safety, the following picture series given in Fig. 3.1 shows the safety risk at certain crossing places in Sri Lanka.

I II

III IV

Fig 3.1: Manually operated Rail Crossing at Kapuwatta ()

Fig. 3.1 given above shows safety risk and delay observed at a railway crossing at Kapuwatte. There indicates a highly unprotected manually operated rail crossing. The first picture shows the gate keeper was in a hurry in crossing to the other side after closing a gate (LHS). Picture II shows the train was crossing the road just after the second gate (RHS) is closed, but the visibility of gate is not satisfactory. The problem arises during the absence of

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the gate keeper. According to the road users and residents in the area the gate keeper’s service is not available in many occasions at night. It was noted that one of the road vehicle users got down from the vehicle and observed whether there is a danger and then only he crossed the track.

Picture III and IV shows that the rail track is on a sharp crest which involves a lot of delay when the track. Picture IV indicates sharpness of the gradient/sag (only a half height of the vehicle could be seen from the other side).

The above crossing was one of the most critical railway crossings observed during the field visits. It shows the safety risk as well as causes for delay.

From the sample (42 numbers of random locations) the locations influenced for safety were categorized and tabled as table 3.2)

3.3.2.1 Selection of the crossing type

According to the Sri Lanka Railway authority sources certain facts (listed below) are considered when selecting the suitable type.

• Accident record at the particular location for a certain period. • Road traffic and pedestrian traffic demand. • Road alignment. • Visibility at the particular location. • Land use pattern in the area. • Future regional developments. • Road traffic growth rate. • Funding sources / Availability of budget. • Maintenance/ Replacement capacity. • Public complains.

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According to SLR sources the constructions and plantations are not allowed within certain regularized distance from the crossing centre of the track, but no hard and fast enforcements or penalties are being taken against the violations of the said restriction.

3.3.2.2 Occupational Level crossings

The occupational level crossing was the most unprotected type of level crossing found during the field visits. There are supposed to be gates at both sides and kept locked by the occupant and opened only on the requirement of the occupant after ensuring it is safe to pass over. These crossings are provided by the SLR as per the request made by the residence or occupants, subject to the following restrictions.

• Clear visibility for at least 50m either sides from the location must be available (There should not be any horizontal curves for 50m distance either sides of the proposed place) • Utilization of the crossing and the safety are at occupant’s risk. • No gates or signal lights are provided by the SLR. • Occupant’s premises to be covered by a parapet wall and a suitable gate. • Implementation and maintenance cost of the crossing to be born by the occupants. • No disturbances are allowed for the rail dispatching rate, movements of trains or for the trail track due to this provision.

Whatever the restrictions and conditions imposed as listed above it was found that those crossings are with poorly maintained surface conditions. In some places these were deep pot holes even a car cannot cross through. However it is necessary to take care when crossing these places as there are no signs or indications appearing about the rail movements at these highly unprotected occupational rail crossings. One of such unprotected occupational level crossings which were not according to rules and regulations is shown in Fig. 3.2.

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Fig: 3.2: Poorly maintained occupational level crossing at Kandana (Puttalam line)

3.3.2.3 Construction of parallel road sections in place of direct right angle crossings.

This looks as a good proposal and already being implemented in some areas in order to prevent rail crashes with motor vehicles. This helps to improve the visibility at both sides, but the implementation cost is considerably high. According to this system parallel road sections at both sides are to be constructed. Instead of direct movement over the crossing the motorists have to travel for an additional distance parallel with the trail track (Fig. 3.3). The practical problems observed against this implementation are as follows.

• Difficult to implement in commercial or residential areas as land acquisition and demolition has to be involved. • Takes additional time for traveling as there are two road sections to be passed through. • High capital cost of implementation. • Width of the parallel roads to be widened and improved timely with the increasing traffic growth.

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Main Road Parallel Road Section

Rail Line

Rail Gate

Main Road Parallel Road Section

Figure 3.2.2.33.3 : Construction of Parallel Road Section for Safety of Road Users

3.3.2.4 Replacing Unprotected Crossings by signal lights or gates.

It was noticed that there were unprotected crossings with manual operated gates or no barricades in different areas in the country. It was also observed that these places are now being replaces by signal lights. It was also found that once an accident happen at an unprotected place, the particulars place is replaced by the signal system.

Fig: 3.4 Recently installed signal lights at Peralanda (Puttalam line)

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3.3.2.5 Implementation of ITS Applications (Intelligent Transport Systems)

Implementation of ITS application improves accuracy and safety but according to the relevant officers from SLR it involves a huge capital cost which may not be viable for implementation at each and every location. However arrangements are now being made to look into the possibility of implementing the technology at least in certain important areas, where we can ensure the safety and reduce the time consumption. However once it is installed the maintenance and upgrading are not that difficult. In many developed countries rail crashes have been minimized with the utilization of ITS applications.

3.3.2.6 Safety Assurance of Pedestrians

In many countries Pedestrians are not allowed to walk across the level crossing but appropriate provisions are provided to cross over the place. In Sri Lanka both motorists and pedestrians are traveling across the level crossing at the same time with insufficient road widths would result many numbers of fatal accidents annually. In 95% of the locations visited it was noted that the pedestrians are at risk on level crossing. In some places where railway embankment is high, pedestrian underpasses have been provided.

3.4 Observations Gathered during Inspections

3.4.1 Common causes for Delay at Level Crossing

Causes for delay during the gate is open are considered in this research. Some prominent causes out of many are discussed below.

• Surface Defects

This is the most common cause in many locations. 82% of the places inspected are involved in this failure, but the gravity of failure differs place to place.

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This defect has been identified as a maintenance failure (refer to Fig. 3.5&3.6). On the other hand in replacement of rails tracks or check rails and the sleepers underneath, the quality of the wearing course has been neglected. It was noted that the priority was given only on the particulars replacement, but unsuitable layer has been placed on top in place of the wearing cause, giving inconvenience to the road users. Following figures show the situation of poorly maintained surface at two identified locations.

Fig: 3.5 China bay (Trinco line) Fig: 3.6 Kantale (Trinco line)

• Visibility

Visibility and sight distance is the worse case that contributed mostly on delay. It was observed that many drivers tend to stop the vehicle before entering into the level crossing even when the gate is open (in places where insufficient visibility or sight distances are available).

There are two reasons for this poor visibility. The first one is poor alignment or natural constraints. Eg. Hilly areas, problems related to horizontal alignment etc. (Refer Fig. 3.7) However the critical issue is the man made structures within the railway reservation. It was appeared that the responsible authorities will have to take steps either to prevent construction or to demolish these unauthorized structures or plantations. (Refer Fig. 3.8)

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Fig: 3.7 Yangalmodara (main line) Fig: 3.8 Kolathenna (main line)

• Poor Vertical Alignment

Another prominent delay related issue is the poor vertical alignments just before and after the rail tracks as well as between the two rail tacks. According to the railway sources there are specified dimensions for constructions of rail crossing approaches. The design length of approaches at level crossings should not be less than 1.5 times the average vehicle length, but steep gradients or sags /crests are appeared in majority of the railway approaches observed (table 4.1& Fig. 3.9- 3.10). Further to this in main railway lines, with multi tracks, many more sags and crests are appeared in between rail tracks. All the vehicles approaching the crossings are supposed to reduce the vehicle speed for average speed of 5km/h and also some light vehicles such as motors cars traveled at pedestrian walking speed in between the tracks.

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Fig: 3.9 Kolathenna Fig: 3.10 Boys Town

3.4.2 Demand for Crossings

It was observed that the demand for level crossing by the road users is being increasing at a considerable rate. This was assessed by measuring the queue lengths forming at either sides during the railway gates are closed. When comparing with the passed records we could get an idea about the annual rate of growth of the demand. It was also noted that number of level crossings and the related facilities are not being upgraded with this increasing demand except at few places. The reasons behind the growth of demand for level crossing by the motor vehicles as well as pedestrians in detail will be discussed under data analysis given in chapter 4 of this report.

3.4.3 Demand for Railway Vs Road Transport

According to the literature survey studies carried out under chapter 2, it was convinced that the demand for Railway was very high in the past. Rail transport service was the most prominent among many other transport modes for passengers as well as goods transportation. With the expansion of the road network and when the roads were constructed parallel with the rail line and bus stands or bus halts were constructed in close interval or at convenient places, the demand for road transport was increased rapidly.

Further to this when the facilities of rail transport were not improved timely with the road transport facilities, the demand for rail transport gradually declined. At present the rail transport is being utilized for office transport (as traveling by the train with monthly season ticket is affordable for the majority of people).

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