MPLN Peiris, Project Director of Sri Lanka Railway M P De Silva, Team Leader of CECB and S L Gupta, General Manager of Ircon International Limited, undertook the trial run on April 23. Other officers from Sri Lanka Railway, CECB and Ircon also participated in the trial run.

The trial run commenced from Medawachchiya station and ended at the newly constructed Madhu Road Station. “The trial run was successful and comfortable and we are very pleased that this phase of the project has been completed,” said Gupta.

The reconstructed track is a 43 km long segment in the prestigious Northern Railway Line projects, comprising a 252 km route length, which is being executed by Ircon International Limited, a government company under the Ministry of Railways India. The project is funded by the Government of India, under the Indian Line of Credit. “This segment is now dedicated to the public of Sri Lanka and has been completed well within the scheduled completion date”, said Gupta.

The reconstructed railway track is designed with a speed potential of 120kmph. Rail joints are minimized using the latest modern welding technology. Pre-stressed concrete sleepers have been used to lay the track, instead of traditional wooden sleepers to ensure durable and stronger tracks, simultaneously helping to preserve the environment. CMS (Cast Manganese Steel) crossings with standard turnouts, long welded rails with switch expansion joints, panel interlocking, flash butt welding, etc. have been incorporated to provide a long lasting track, with minimal maintenance effort.

“For the execution of the project, local manpower and agencies have been deployed in order to generate local employment as well as for purposes of skills development,” said Gupta.

The railway tracks from Omanthai to Kankesanthurai and Medawachchiya to Talaimannar were completely destroyed during the devastating civil war. The Government of India has extended its support to the Government of Sri Lanka to rebuild the 252 km route length track under the 800 Million US$ lines of credit. The entire project is scheduled to be completed in 5 phases and all segments of the project are progressing well according to schedule,” said Gupta.