Minister of Transport, Highways and Mass Media Dr. Bandula Gunawardena who was on an official visit to Jaffna took part in an inspection tour of the Jaffna Railway Station.
Minister Dr. Gunawardena said that last year, the Railway Department had given priority to the Northern railway track and made a huge investment under which the rail-track from Anuradhapura to Omanthai was modernised to enable trains to run at a speed of 100 kilometres per hour. The Minister said that after the completion of the renovation work on the railway track from Mahawa to Anuradhapura, which begins today, there will be no need to renovate the Northern railway track for at least another 50 years.
The Minister said that the Northern railway track from Mahawa to Anuradhapura will be closed from today for complete reconstruction work. The Minister said that after the completion of this project which is being carried out at a huge cost under an Indian Credit Line, a cost-reflective ticket pricing system will be implemented for passenger and cargo transport.
A recent discussion between Minister Dr. Gunawardena and the new Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha revealed that the Northern railway track can be electrified. The Minister has directed Transport Ministry officials to look into its feasibility. The Minister said that since the Government is unable to allocate money for new investments due to the current financial situation, it is timely to give space to the private sector to present investment proposals to run special tourist trains. The Minister also said that the Railway Department can contribute to providing solutions to the current economic crisis by focusing on new ways of earning foreign exchange such as starting freight services between Colombo and Jaffna, especially for wheat flour transportation and providing facilities for tourism in collaboration with the Jaffna Traders’ Association.
