Railways Department yet to calculate losses from strike

Despite the strike, some train services continued operations

By Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama

The Railways Department has said that the losses incurred as a result of the non-operation of trains during the trade union strike initiated by the Sri Lanka Railways Locomotive Operating Engineers’ Union have not yet been calculated.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka Railways General Manager N.J. Indipolage said that the losses would be assessed by the end of this month.

He suggested that approximately five per cent of the revenue might have been lost due to the disruption in railway services.

Despite the train strike, several train services were operated while facilitating the transportation of many individuals.

“Only a few people utilized public services. Long-distance operating train services, including goods trains, continued to operate,” he stated. “Therefore, the railways department did not experience significant losses.”

However, the Sri Lanka Railways Locomotive Operating Engineers’ Union had called off their ongoing strike yesterday following discussions with the Transport Minister.

The union said the trains in the last evening were not run as usual, but the services will return to normal by today.

Only a few trains were cancelled last evening, and the locomotive engineers and the General Manager, Railways are aware of this.

The union launched their strike on Friday (7) due to delays in the second-class promotions of locomotive drivers, continuous delays in recruitments due to the lack of a salary code, and other issues.