Sri Lanka Railways Forum

The Government of India has agreed to provide a loan of US$ 382.37 million for the restoration of Northern Railway Service, the government announced Friday.

Sri Lanka’s cabinet has granted approval to a proposal put forward by the President, in his capacity as a Minister of Finance and Planning to enter into a credit agreement with the Export-Import Bank of India to obtain this credit facility.

Of the total credit line, US$ 149.3 million will be utilized for the reconstruction of the 56-kilometer Pallai- Kankesanthurai Railway Line destroyed by the Tamil Tiger rebels during the war.

Another US$ 86.52 million will be allocated for setting up of signaling and telecommunication systems for the Northern Railway Line and US$ 146.51 million will be utilized for other contracts that may be mutually agreed upon by the two Governments.

Under an agreement signed by the two countries last August, India will supply and install a Signaling and Telecommunication system for the railway network in the Northern Province.

The signaling work involves provision of centralized control panel, interlocking color light system with electrically operated points and track detection system. All the level crossings will be interlocked with new signaling system, which would ensure safety at level crossings.

The telecommunication work involves provision of optical fiber communication system throughout the section. In addition, public address system, etc., shall also be provided at major stations.

The loan provided by the Indian government at concessional terms is a part of the Indian Line of Credit of US$ 800 million. The credit line carries an interest rate of LIBOR plus 0.5 % with LIBOR capped at 3% with a repayment period of 20 years with a five year moratorium.

The work on reconstruction of the railway network in the North, including on the Pallai-Kankesanthurai segment, is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.

The restoration of rail network will give a boost to connectivity and economic development in Sri Lanka.

Source: Colombopage

The coastal railway line between Aluthgama and Kalutara will be closed from January 1 for two months. The rail track will be closed for upgrading under the third phase of the high-speed southern railway project, a Sri Lanka Railways spokesman said.

He said that the upgraded railway line from Aluthgama to Kalutara will be reopened in March.

“Train services on the coastal line will be limited from Colombo to Kalutara and Galle to Matara in January and February,” the spokesman said.

Under the second stage, the railway line from Galle to Aluthgama was closed from September 1 this year for development activities.

Source: Dailynews

Those residing in railway track reservations between Pallai and Kankesanthurai have been ordered to vacate the railway properties before January next year. The Government Agent, Jaffna, has instructed Divisional Secretaries to take action to evict the trespassers on railway properties between Pallai and Kankesanthurai.

There was no railway service during the past twenty years between Vavuniya and Kankesanthurai as the war was intense in the North. The landless people seized this opportunity and grabbed the lands and buildings belonging to the railway department and put up houses on the railway track. They even built temples on these lands after removing the rails. The rails between Vavuniya and Kankesanthurai had been stolen to build bunkers and permanent dwelling houses.

It was decided to start the laying of railway track in January at a meeting at the Jaffna Secretariat presided by the Jaffna Government Agent. The railway track laying will be carried out in three stages. The first is from Vavniya to Thandikulam which has been completed. The second stage is from Thandikulam to Omanthai which has also been completed. The third stage is from Omanthai to Pallai and then from Pallai to Kankesanthurai.

Source: dailynews

Transport Minister of Sri Lanka Kumara Welgama says that vegetables and fruits would be sold to consumers at concessionary prices after transporting them in trains.

Welgama says the programme would be implemented through the railway stations island wide for the convenience of the passengers.

The Minister has said the country’s railway service would be upgraded to meet the growing demands of the people.

He has explained that the government was trying to set up banks, super markets and internet cafes in railway stations in order to provide all services required by the train commuters.

According to Welgama, the Transport Ministry is in the process of implementing these plans to upgrade the railway service.

Source: Colombpage

Authorities have focused attention on the possibility of coordinating the proposed luxury bus service on the Southern Highway with the train service on the Kelani Valley line.

Director, Operations of the Southern Highway, B. D. Bandara said a proposal had been made to prepare the time-table of the bus service in keeping with the time of departure of trains from Kottawa. He pointed out that the entire journey from Galle to Colombo would not take more than two hours if the passengers proceeded from Kottawa to Colombo by train. (Buddhika Kumarasiri)

Source: Dailymirror

Sri Lanka Railway announced that the coastal railway line from Kalutara to Aluthgama will be closed from January 01st next year to upgrade the line.

The segment to be closed is a part of the comprehensive project for upgrading the coastal railway line from Colombo to Matara.

The train services on the coastal line will be limited to Colombo to Kalutara and Galle to Matara from January.

Sri Lanka Railways is planning a special joint train-bus service for the convenience of the passengers during this period, a spokesman of Sri Lanka Railways said.

The reconstructed Galle-Matara segment was opened in February this year for high-speed passenger train transport while the second phase of construction between Galle and Hikkaduwa also began on the 15th of February.

Sri Lanka Railway closed the railway from Aluthgama to Galle in July 2011.
The upgraded railway line is to be reopened by March 2012.

The Indian government has pledged US$ 167.4 million for the project. Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON) is entrusted with the construction.

Source: Colombopage

The Railway Department has decided to terminate express trains that travel on the North Eastern and the Colombo Kandy main lines at the Mirigama Railway Station.

Thereby the 4001 Yaaldevi train that travels from Fort to Omanthai, and the 4002 Yaaldevi train that travels from Omanthai will terminated at the Mirigama Train Station on weekends and holidays.

Train number 6011 that travels from Fort to Batticaloa and train number 6012 that travels from Batticaloa to Fort will be terminated at the Mirigama Train Station on a daily basis.

The train that travels from Fort to Mahawa will be stopped at Mirigama only on weekdays.

Also, the train that travels from Fort to Matale and from Kandy to Fort will be stopped in Mirigama.

Meanwhile a statement issued by Sri Lanka Railways says that steps have been taken to terminate the train that travels from Fort to Mahawa in Kelaniya.

Source: newsfirst