Northern rail track to be extended to Omanthai

Irangika RANGE

Work on the Northern railway track will be extended upto Omanthai within the next three months under the restoration project.

Sri Lanka Railways Commercial Superintendent Wijaya Samarasinghe told the Daily News that work on the rail track from Thandikulam to Omanthai has already commenced and it is due to be completed before the first week of September.

People in the Galle district under the patronage of Social Welfare and Social Services Deputy Minister Lionel Premasiri have provided aid and manpower to construct the Omanthai railway station, Samarasinghe said.

He said operations of the Yal Devi train will be extended upto the Omanthai railway station shortly, after the restoration of the rail track, railway station and the signal system is completed.

"We expect to complete the balance 160 km rail track of the Northern Line by 2010 under the Uthuru Mithuru program launched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to enable the people to travel to the North by train," he said.

It is estimated that around Rs. 14 billion is needed to restore the entire rail track.

The Government will construct the first section from Vavuniya with its own funds. It will seek foreign and local funds to construct the balance 160 km track.

The Transport Ministry has issued the ticket - Hadavathata ticket ekak each costing Rs. 1,000 to be collected for the project. The ticket will initially be made available at 173 main railway stations and 161 sub stations islandwide. Samarasinghe said people buying the ticket to support the Uturu Mithuru project will be valid for a single journey from Colombo to Jaffna once the restoration of the railway track is completed.

He said Sri Lanka Railways officials and employees have decided to donate their one day salary to the Uthuru Mithuru project. The Railway Department invites public contribution to complete the project.