Revamped southern railway opens today

A renovated Southern express railway line from Galle to Matara constructed at a cost of US$36 million, will be officially opened today.
The trains are able to run at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour on the modernized Galle-Matara railway track despite the current speed of 40 kilometers per hour in the old track, Sri Lanka Railways Planning Director Vijaya Samarasinghe told the Daily News.
The newly laid express railway line which is 43 km in length, has been modernized into a high speed rail track enabling trains to travel from Galle to Matara within two hours. The current travel time is over three hours. Under the first phase of the project, work on the railway track from Galle to Matara was carried out with Indian assistance.
The coastal railway between Galle and Matara was suspended from last August for the upgrading.
Samarasinghe said that the Southern railway renovation project funded by a long-term Indian soft loan, was handled by IRCON, an Indian company. The project would be completed in four stages; Matara to Galle, Galle to Hikkaduwa, Hikkaduwa to Kalutara South and Kalutara South to Maradana, he said.
The project covers upgrading the tracks, bridges, signals and new passenger trains. When completed, the revamped coastal railway-line system will substantially improve the rail services on the Colombo-Galle-Matara section and result in higher average speed and an increased number in train services.
The ceremony to reopen the modernized coastal railway line from Matara to Galle would be held in Galle railway station under the patronage of Indian High Commissioner Ashok K Kantha.
Transport Minister Kumara Welgama, Transport Deputy Minister Rohana Kumara Dissanayake, Ministry's Secretary Dammika Perera and Railways General Manager A G Mahanama will also participate. IR
Daily News