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Railway lines flooded

11 Jan 2011 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Batticaloa railway line is 2.5 feet underwater at certain points and trains in a number of lines in the Eastern and Central Provinces have been disrupted, the Railways Department said today.

Railways Department Director of Planning, Wijaya Samarasinghe said that the railway lines connecting Gal Oya to Trincomalee, Trincomalee to Gal Oya, Gal Oya to Batticaloa, and Kandy to Matale were out of order due to flooding.

He said that the Batticaloa railway line was flooded 2.5 feet deep from ground level and that the heavy rain that was experienced in the past two days was the highest rainfall experienced in the Batticaloa area after 100 years. He said that Warachi and Eravur were the most affected areas in the Batticoloa district.

“It is difficult to estimate at this time as to when the railway lines can be used again. It all depends on the prevailing weather conditions,” Samarasinghe said. He said some other railway lines were also temporarily out of use due to fallen trees and mounds of earth but that they were cleared in the past two days.

Rail Controller, Nihal Fernandez said that parts of the Manampitya railway line in Polonnaruwa had washed away and that authorities were in the process of restoring it.

Samarasinghe said that since the trains have remained stationary the past few days the Railways Department has incurred severe financial losses. (Olindhi Jayasundere)

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Railway lines flooded

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