Second rail bus service moves between Trincomalee, Gal-Oya

Irangika RANGE

The Railway Department will launch its second rail bus service today between Trincomalee and Gal Oya in the Eastern Province under the Negenahira Navodaya project.

The inauguration will take place at the Trincomalee railway station under the patronage of Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma at 3.00pm.

A Sri Lanka Railways Spokesman told the Daily News the first rail bus launched under the Negenahira Navodaya between Baticaloa and Gal Oya is being operated successfully.

The rail-bus service operating between Gal Oya and Trincomalee will commence from the Gal Oya station once the Meenagaya train (Colombo-Batticaloa) arrives.

The Trincomalee bound civilians had to wait nearly four hours at the Gal Oya station to go to Trincomalee. With the operation of this new rail-bus service from Gal-Oya to Trincomalee, they would reach the destination within a short period.

The Indian Government has provided 10 buses at a cost of Rs 44 million to Sri Lanka Railways and has made available an additional Rs 22 million to pay for the cost of conversion of these buses into rail-bus units.

The buses had been converted to rail-buses suitable for local conditions at the Railway workshop Ratmalana under the supervision of Railways General Manager P.P. Wijesekara.

The Government is planing to deploy more rail buses in the Eastern railway fleet as it has reduced travel time considerably, he said.

He said the project aims to provide quick and affordable transport facilities to commuters in the East.

Each rail-bus will have two buses. A rail-bus comprising 80 seats costing about Rs 6 million is easier to maintain, the spokesman added.