President inspects Northern railway track relaying [October 19 2010]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa inspected the Northern railway track laying site at Omanthai this evening.

The Colombo-Jaffna rail track which was destroyed by the LTTE terrorists several years ago is to be reconstructed under the Northern Reawakening program. The construction work of the northern railway line from Vavuniya to Thandikulam has already been completed and the trains are operating up to Thandikulam. The renovation of the ten kilometer railway track from Thandikulam to Omanthai is now underway.

The Indian government has pledged support to the reconstruction of the rail track. The laying of rail tracks between Omanthai and Pallai on the Northern line is to be launched by visiting Foreign Minister of India, M.S. Krishna, next month.

The government plans to extend the railway services up to Omanthai train station before the end of this year. The re-laying of the new Omanthai-Palali railway line is to be commenced next month, along with another rail route between Medawachchiya and Talai Mannar,