Luxury train service lengthened

Irangika RANGE, Sandasen MARASINGHE and Disna MUDALIGE

The Government plans to extend the luxury train service it had introduced for the IIFA Festival from the Bandaranaike International Airport to Colombo upto the Hikkaduwa Tourist Zone, Parliament was told yesterday.

An answer tabled by Transport Minister Kumara Welgama in response to a question raised by UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake, said that this move to extend the luxury railway service would be based on passenger requirements and demand. The luxury railway service was inaugurated on June 1, 2010 and operational activities implemented from June 9, 2010.

It was inaugurated to provide transport facilities to foreign air passengers who travel from the BIA, Katunayake to Colombo city and to provide facilities for foreign tourists to travel to other railway stations.

Asked about the total number of passengers that used the service from Colombo to Katunayake or vice versa since the IIFA festival, the Minister said that issuing of tickets for this luxury service and the controlling of the number of passengers were done by the Airport Company and therefore, relevant statistics were not available with the Railway Department. The Railway Department is only involved in the operation of this train on the basis of charging a specific amount for running kilometre. The Railway Department charges Rs 1,400 per kilometre for this luxury train service. For the period from May 31, 2010 to June 30, 2010 the Airport Company paid Rs 3,290,112 to the Railway Department.

Meanwhile, this luxury train has been undergoing repairs from the first week of September 2010 due to a technical defect.

Minister Welgama has instructed to put this train into operation again after signing an agreement with the Airport Company.