Railway commuters had to undergo numerous hardships due to a strike launched by the Railway Locomotive Engineers Union during the weekend. The union has decided not to report for work on public holidays as a protest against the suspension of some of its members including its President. Department sources said that only 90 train routes [...]
While the rail engine (591) severely damaged by the Tsunami four years ago had been re-deployed on Friday (26), after extensive repairs, railway trade unions said that an engine sent for repairs to DIMO Ltd., hadn’t been repaired due to negligence on the part of the administration. For want of payment, it had been left [...]
Commemorating the fourth anniversary of Sri Lanka’s unprecedented tragedy of the deadly Tsunami, the Railway Department is scheduled to launch today the repaired engine of the train that was struck by the tsunami in 2004. The historical first journey of the engine will commence at about 6:30 a.m. today from the Fort Railway station with the participation [...]
“There was a time the Railways had been totally neglected and destined to a natural death. The 20% share of passenger transport by train in the National Transport had been reduced to 6% during this time. The plan was for the Railways to be fragmented and sold. But after the Mahinda Rajapaksa government was elected, [...]
The Station Masters’ Trade Union (SMTU) yesterday charged that there was a calculated effort by a section of the Railway Department employees to sabotage the Railway service and put the Government into a difficult position. President of SMTU, K.V. Jayasena told the media that the income from the Railway service has drastically come down due [...]
Yal Devi made her maiden journey on April 23, 1956, with two other trains, Udarata Menike and Ruhunu Kumari and because of this many, Sri Lankans considered them as three sisters. Trains no longer arrive at the Jaffna railway station. The familiar ‘kuchu kuchu’ of locomotive engines and the ‘hoooooo’ of their whistles, no longer [...]
Sri Lanka is to purchase 15 locomotive engines to improve the railway service, which has been subjected to heavy criticism recently, for under performance and bureaucratic inefficiency. SL Railways imported eight high tech French-built engines in 2002, which was a sham as only two of the engines are presently in running condition. Minister of Transport, [...]
The Ceylon Government Railway (CGR) will purchase another 20 new power sets from India, Transport Ministry sources said. The new power sets will be used for long distance travel and this is the first time the CGR purchased power sets for long distance travel. The new power sets will be purchased under the Indian Credit [...]