Derailment affects railway services in North
The derailment of a train transporting fuel from Colombo Fort to Anuradhapura, between Senarathgama and Thamubuttegama railway stations affected the railway service in the Northern line yesterday morning.
The Anuradhapura main control room said that the derailment occurred around 6.10 am. The derailed train comprised five tanks of fuel and a guard carriage. Three of the tanks with Diesel, Petrol and Kerosene had toppled over and the fuel had been seeping out of them. The control room said that the engine had not been damaged. about 250 feet of the railway track were destroyed.
According to the sources three tankers of the train have been derailed and nearly 32,000 liters of fuel have leaked out.
Reports said that some people in the area were collecting the fuel seeping out of the damaged tanks in plastic cans.
The control room said that train services on the Northern line had been limited up to Galgamuwa following the derailment. A technical team with a crane had been sent from Colombo to bring the service on the line back to normalcy.
Transport authorities have taken measures to deploy special bus services to Anuradhapura and Vavuniya from Thambuththegama until the main rail track is cleared.
Source: Dailymirror, Colombopage.com, The island
