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| Sunday, 6 February 2005 |
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Coastline trains back on track soon by S. Selva Kumar Trains will be back on track between Colombo and Matara beginning early March but would be subject to delays until the new signalling system is installed. However until the new system is installed a temporary but safe system would be in place. After the tsunami the southern track was devastated but the railway authorities resumed the services between Colombo and Kalutara South from January 3. "Our success in achieving this feat was due to the dedication of our workforce. A part of the workforce consists of volunteers" General Manager Railways (GMR) Priyal de Silva said. He said heavy damage caused between Kalutara South and Aluthgama is now being repaired. Four bridges and embankment between these two stations got washed away. Tracks got overturned and the signalling system was totally damaged, he explained. With a temporary but safe signalling system trains could be operated between Colombo and Aluthgama from February 7, the GMR said. From the Southern end trains are operative between Matara and Koggala and from February 14 the Matara-Galle service would be operative. The track between Galle and Aluthgama was the worst affected and this stretch would take another three to four weeks to be restored. It was on this stretch that a Matara bound express train was badly hit by tsunami, killing over a thousand passengers. The incident occurred at Telwatte. The GMR said the cost of restoring tracks was estimated at Rs. 1600 million, restoration and updating the signalling system would cost another Rs. 1500 million, communication system would cost Rs. 1000 million and the entire cost of the restoration programme including new bogeys and repairs to the affected stations was estimated at Rs. 7800 million. "Passengers should bear with us since there could be delays due to the temporary signalling system but once modern equipment is imported and the new signalling system installed it would be smooth sailing thereafter" De Silva said. |
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