Medawachchiya-Madhu Road rail service begins

The train services from Medawachchiya to the Madhu Road station on the northern railway track was inaugurated by Minister for Economic Development, Basil Rajapaksa and Minister of Transport, Kumara Welgama, last week.The segment which covers 43 kilometres of the 252-kilometre project was completed on schedule by Ircon International, a government of India undertaking, at a cost of $ 81.3 m. Chairman and Managing Director of Ircon International India, Mohan Tiwari was present.

The train reached the Madhu Road station at 11.00 hours. The Ministers and outgoing Indian High Commissioner, Ashok K. Kantha unveiled a plaque at the newly constructed Madhu Road station platform and thereafter hoisted the flags of their countries, followed by the Sri Lankan and Indian National Anthems.

Minister Basil Rajapaksa said this was the fulfillment of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's vision of bringing peace and prosperity to all communities in Sri Lanka.

General Manager Ircon International, S L Gupta said, “For the completion of the project, we used manpower from India and Sri Lanka. For the sophisticated track construction operations, specialised agencies and machines from the Indian Railway were used.

We generated employment for the local population and approximately 1,000 local employees directly and 2,500 Sri Lankans indirectly are employed in the project”.

Chairman and Managing Director, Ircon International Limited, Mohan Tiwari said that the other segments of the project are progressing well and will be completed on schedule. He said that it was their intention to open the Omanthai-Killinochchi section of 62 kilometers by July 2013.