COMMUTERS CAN USE NEW JAFFNA-KKS, MADHU-MANNAR LINES FROM JANUARY

The rail tracks from Jaffna to Kankesanthurai and from Madhu to Thiruketheeswaram in Mannar have been completed and were likely to be commissioned in January next year, the Railway Department said.

A Railway Department official said discussions were also being carried out by Sri Lanka and India to launch the ferry service between Talaimannar in the Northern Province and Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, India no sooner the rail track from Thiruketheeswaram to Talaimannar was completed by February next year.

“The Talaimannar pier will be constructed afterwards. This will be the final phase of the Northern Railway Project and will open up connections between Sri Lanka and India,” he said. The official said that the rail track from Matara to Beliatta was also under construction and was scheduled to be completed in 2016.

The Talaimannar pier will be constructed afterwards.This will be the final phase of the Northern Railway Project

He said the rail track from Nanu Oya to Nuwara Eliya that was closed in the 1940’s would be re-opened in March after renovations were completed with funds from the Chinese EXIM Bank.“This proposal is currently under discussion as land needs to be acquired and several families, who have set up homes illegally on land reserved for railway expansion, need to be relocated,” the official said.

He said a proposal to renovate the track from Polgahawela to Maho and then to Anuradhapura was submitted by the Indian construction giant IRCON two months back to be funded under an Indian line of credit.

All project proposals were currently under discussion with plans being made to implement them next year, the Railway Department said.