Sri Lanka Railways Forum

Two luxury Hitachi air-conditioned trains will resume operations from February 1. These trains were under repairs for the past one year by local technicians.

Speaking to The Island, Commercial Superintendent of Sri Lanka Railways, Vijaya Samarasinghe, said that one of these luxury trains could accommodate 60 travellers, while the other could carry 100. Each train will comprise four compartments.

“Reservations have already started. Those possessing Warrants could travel free of charge,” said Samarasinghe yesterday.

He also said that these luxury trains have an air conditioned kitchen, dinning room and all types of communication.

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Sri Lanka Railway will operate special inter-city train service between Colombo Fort and Nanu Oya on January 29, 30 and 31.

The train will start from Fort at 8.35 a.m. will stop at Peradeniya, Gampola, Nawalapitiya, Hatton, Talawakele and Nanu Oya (reaching at 2.10 p.m.).

The train from Nanu Oya will start at 3.15 p.m. and will stop at the same stations and reach Colombo Fort at 9.00 p.m.

Source: Sri Lanka Railways

Transport Minister Dulles Alahapperuma said a train would run from KKS to Beliatta in less than 20 months and up to Kataragama in 30 months when the next government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa carried out its promises given in the current election campaign.

Addressing a ceremony held in connection with the passing out of 37 Railway Engine Drivers at the auditorium of the Maradana Railway Head Quarters he said ‘Yal Devi’ will run to Jaffna before the end of this year.

“Some ask what this government has done in development. I invite them to come to the North and see what the government has achieved after the liberation of North in May. We have already given the contract worth $185 mn to re-construct the 90 kilometer stretch of railway line between Omanthai to Pallai to an Indian company,” he said.

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A large number of passengers including the Buddhist monks of the Polgasduwa International Monastery, the devotees visiting the monastery and the foreign tourists are facing hardships due to the dilapidated state of the Dodanduwa railway station.

Polgasduwa International Buddhist Monastery and the Hikkaduwa tourist area are in close proximity to Dodanduwa railway station. The 115 year old railway station on the Southern coastal line has been in a state of disrepair for a long time. Built in 1894 by the then Governor of Ceylon Sir Arthur Havelock, Dodanduwa railway station has not been improved to meet the requirements of the increasing number of passengers.

The passengers are facing hardships when they board a train on rainy days for want of a roof for the platform. A large area of the platform is covered with shrub jungle and the land belonging to the railway station and the railway reservation are occupied by squatters. The employees of the railway station pointed out that repairs and maintenance of the main building of the railway station and the quarters of the employees had been neglected for several years. The residents of the area have requested the authorities to improve the Dodanduwa railway station and to upgrade it as an express halt.

Source: Dailymirror

The Organization for the Protection of Railway Property and the Rights of Railway Employees said that they had restored the coastal railway line which was destroyed by the tsunami within a short period of 57 days voluntarily and set an example to the people who still believe in the misconception that only the Englishmen could construct the railway lines.

Convener of the Organization Sumathipala Manawadu pointed out the railway employees through their dedication to service had achieved this object but it was sad that the present government awarded the contract of augmenting the coastal railway line and restoring the Northern railway line to foreign companies.

In a press communiqué yesterday Manawadu further said “President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government ignored our continual requests to construct the railway lines departmentally and to change the shortsighted decision to call foreign companies to undertake the contract. We informed the government that the voluntary force of the Railways Department was ready to undertake the project.

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The Railway Department will launch its third rail-bus service from tomorrow between Trincomalee and Gal Oya in the Eastern Province under the Negenahira Navodaya project.

The inauguration will take place at the Trincomalee railway station under the patronage of Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Ashok K.Kantha.

A Sri Lanka Railways Spokesman told the Daily News the first rail bus launched under the Negenahira Navodaya between Baticaloa and Gal Oya and the second rail bus between Trincomalee and Gal-Oya are being operated successfully.

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Indian Railways with over 63,000 kilometres of rail track at home is one of the largest mass transport networks in the world. And, laying down 90 kilometres of track in Sri Lanka’s northern province might therefore be an easy task for the organization. But, the Omanthai-Pallai track project costing $185 million is of significance to New Delhi given that it is a major infrastructure reconstruction programme in post-war Sri Lanka.

Apart from multi-lateral lending agencies such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), India has provided large grants to Sri Lanka for reconstruction works. China however has been seen as grabbing plum infrastructure projects by extending its line of credit even at commercial rates to the island nation in various sectors including military supplies. China’s expanding interests in the Indian Ocean region has deepened India’s concerns.

The Government of India’s firm Indian Railways Construction Company (IRCON) with over three decades of work experiences in India and other countries has picked up the Omanthai-Pallai project which is of diplomatic importance to New Delhi as Beijing had been waiting at the door. Another $240 million from the Indian line of credit is expected to arrive in Colombo in the near future when two other track programmes are finalised between IRCON and Sri Lanka Railway.

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