Railway line from Galle to Induruwa closed from September

Irangika RANGE

The Transport Ministry will close the Southern coastal railway line from Galle to Induruwa from September 1, 2011.

The rail track will be closed for six months up to February 29, 2012, a Sri Lanka Railways spokesman told the Daily News.

The 53-kilometre rail track will be closed for upgrading under the second phase of the high-speed southern railway renovation project. The spokesman said the Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON) which handles the construction work on the Southern coastal railway track, has agreed with the Transport Ministry to complete the construction during the stipulated time frame.

The railway lines from Galle to Bentara will be removed and will be replaced with the high-speed railway line.

The trains beginning their journey from Colombo Fort will ply only upto Aluthgama while trains beginning their journey from Matara will ply upto Galle during the construction period.

Meanwhile, the Transport Ministry will operate a joint rail-bus service from Galle to Aluthgama during the time the railway track is closed.

The reconstructed Galle-Matara segment was opened recently for high-speed passenger train transport. The Indian government has pledged US $ 167.4 million for the entire Matara-Colombo railway renovation project.