Sri Lanka Railways says train services on the main railway line from Mahawa to Anuradhapura will be suspended once again for a period of one month due to renovation work on five bridges on the said railway line.
A representative of the Railway Department said that the bridges, which are about 100 years old, need to be removed, and new bridges are to be installed, adding that five of those bridges have already been brought to the country.
He further said that the five bridges are being built with Indian loan assistance and will cost about US$15 million.
The Railway Department representative said that construction is planned to begin most likely after the Poson Poya Festival.
He also revealed that although the reconstruction of this railway line was completed at a cost of US $ 9127 million under the Indian loan scheme and the line was opened to train traffic in September last year, the construction of the signaling system has been delayed and due to the lack of signals, trains are currently operating on a token system on that section.
As such, a memorandum of understanding in this regard is scheduled to be signed with India.
He stated that if work on the signalling system begins within the next month, it will be possible to complete the work by mid-next year. (Newswire)
The post Northern railway line to undergo bridge renovation appeared first on Newswire.