Sri Lanka Railways Forum

Northern bound railway commuters have protested of the body checks carried out by the security forces at the Medawachchiya Railway Station on all Yal Devi passengers.

They said majority of the North bound passengers use the Vavuniya night mail train but they are not subject to checks while all Yal Devi commuters have to disembark at Medawachchiya and are subjected to body checks. They said the Yal Devi runs during day time.

However, at Medawachchiya they were compelled to disembark with their bags and baggage, made to walk to a check point and return to their carriages. This they complained is a cumbersome procedure and results in long delays before the train reaches Vavuniya.

Source: The Island

The Government has introduced a system to reserve train seats over Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel phones under the name ‘Mobitel Ticketing’ to provide an easy and comfortable train ride for commuters.

This facility over Mobitel phones will commence under the patronage of Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma at the Fort Railway station tomorrow.

The Transport Ministry and the Sri Lanka Railways in collaboration with Telecom Mobitel will launch this service.

There is a big public demand for train travel in the aftermath of the end of the war.

“That is why, we decided to introduce the new system which is easier and quicker for the commuters,” he said.

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An additional air conditioned observation coach would be attached to the Podi Menike express train plying between Colombo Fort and Badulla, from December 6, for the convenience of Sri Pada pilgrims and to coincide with the school holidays.

The Podi Menike leaves Colombo Fort at 5.55 a.m. and reaches Badulla at 3.55 p.m. and on her return journey leaves Badulla at 8.50 a.m. and reaches Colombo Fort at at 7.28 p.m.

Prior bookings should be made to commute in the observation coach, a Railway Department press release said.

Source: The island

The Railway Department has decided to expand the Colombo- Nanu-Oya express train service which is restricted to weekends, to others days of the week as well.

“This service will be available from the 30th of November to the first of January,” said Wijeya Samarasinghe, Commercial Superintendent of Railways.

According to the Commercial Superintendent this move had been taken due to the school vacation and the pilgrimage season to Adams Peak.

Source: Newsfirst

The Government will launch two new rail-bus services between Gal Oya and Trincomalee and Gal Oya and Batticaloa in the Eastern Province under the Negenahira Navodaya project.

The project aims to provide quick and affordable transport facilities to commuters in the East.

A Sri Lanka Railway’s Spokesman told the Daily News that the rail-bus service proposed to operate between Gal Oya and Trincomalee will commence from the Gal Oya station once the Meenagaya train (Colombo-Batticaloa) arrived. The Trincomalee bound civilians have to wait nearly four hours at the Gal Oya station to go to Trincomalee. With the operation of this new rail-bus service from Gal-Oya to Trincomalee, they would reach the destination within a short period.

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Changing scenes from Colombo Fort to Jaffna
N. Senthilkumaran takes an ‘armchair train ride’, a compilation of many trips made in the 1980s and early 1990 from Colombo Fort to Jaffna/Kankasanthurai (KKS) on the Yal Devi
Colombo Fort Station; 5.30 a.m.

In the pre-dawn darkness, I move past the ticket checker and look for the platform from which our train, the Yal Devi, will depart. Announcements ring out in Sinhala, Tamil, and English through a tiny speaker system which makes all the languages sound the same. A male voice drones out the never-ending list of stations.

I am now at the correct platform. Our train consisting of nine empty carriages thunders in from the Maligawatte yards.

But even before the empty train comes to a halt, people are already scrambling aboard to get a seat, preferably a window seat nowhere near the malodorous toilets in the middle of the coach. Young boys in the family are brought along specifically for this task as they can hop in through the windows and ‘reserve’ seats for their older, less-agile relatives. (Thanks, thamby!)

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The Yal Devi intercity train that runs from Colombo Fort to Vavuniya derailed this morning at around 7.45 am near the Girambey sub-railway station that lies between Polhagawela and Potuhara, Media Officer for the Railway Department Wijeya Samarasinghe said.

Speaking to Daily Mirror online Samarasinghe said that the engine of the train had reportedly jumped tracks, but added that no one had been injured by the incident.

Railway department workers are reportedly working on the train and it is expected to resume its journey in a short while.

Meanwhile Wijeya Samarasinghe also said that at around 6.30 this morning the Colombo, Fort – Batticaloa train had been delayed by 105 minutes after damaging its vacuum pipe after hitting an elephant on the tracks between Hingurakkgoda and Minneriya

Source: Dailymirror