Minister of Transport and Highways Bandula Gunawardana claim that train services were not canceled due to the retirement of employees as reported by media.
The Minister expressed his views at a meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Transport and Highways recently (5).
Officials who were present said even if a certain number of trains were to be canceled due to the retirement of officials of the Railway Department, it was not as high as reported by media.
The Minister said due to the arrival of more tourists at the BIA, more trains had to be deployed in the past few days to supply fuel, and as a result trains were reduced.
Minister Gunawardana also inquired into the possibility of ending train cancelations caused by retirements.
Sri Lanka Railways officers stated that only 10 train drivers had retired at the end of last year.
Minister Gunawardana meanwhile said a new train schedule will be provided at the beginning of February, based on the available capacity in the Railway Department.
The possibility of ordering tickets 100% online for long-distance train services with tourist attractions such as “Ella-Odyssey” was also discussed.
The Committee also approved the regulations published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2287/28 of 07 July 2022, made by the Minister of Transport and Highways and Minister of Mass Media under the Motor Traffic Act.
