PB to install 300 ATMS at railway stations

Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva said yesterday People’s Bankowned 300 Automated Teller Machines (ATMS) would be installed at 100 main railway stations next month for the convenience of railway passengers.

He told those gathered at a function to mark the signing of the MOU between the Peoples Bank and the Transport and Civil Aviation Ministry that more than 300,000 passengers travel in trains every day and at times find it hard to access an ATM in an emergency.

“It is timely for the country’s premier State bank -- the People’s Bank and the Sri Lanka Railways to provide a quick solution to the people’s need,” the minister said.“the other benefit to passengers is the provision to deposit their salaries or cash to their accounts through the ATM guaranteeing safe movement for their cash. It is not a secret that railway passengers lose their money to pickpockets or for some other reason. With easy access to ATMS this threat to railway passengers will disappear.”

He said not only railway passengers but the Sri Lanka Railways itself would be benefited from this project because inter-departmental financial transactions would also be carried out through ATMS.

People’s Bank Chairman Hemasiri Fernando said the installation of ATMS at 100 Railway stations was a turning point for both the bank and the Railways and assured that the Peoples Bank would donate Rs.300 million to set up the Railway Archives.

The MOU was signed by Railways General Manager B.a.p.ariyaratne and People’s Bank General Manager N. Wasantha Kumar.