Railway strike: Loss amounts over Rs.70mn

The Railways Department had incurred a loss more than Rs.70 million due to the four-day long trade union action by the employees, Sri Lanka Railways’ Additional General Manager (Operations) Wijaya Samarasinghe said.

He said the losses were due to non-issuance of tickets, repayment for booked tickets for locals and foreigners, and due to freight train cancellations.

The Railways Department also had to bear the expenses of inconvenienced commuters to provide transport by Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) buses.

The railway Trade Unions launched the strike over a salary issue on Wednesday (8) was called off today following a discussion with President Maithripala Sirisena.

However, the damage caused to the railway stations’ including Colombo Fort, by angry commuters was yet to be calculated. (Thilanka Kanakarathna)