Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardana said that it has been decided to close down the Northern Railway Line from next January and modernise it within six months.

He expressed these views while speaking at a news conference held at the Presidential Media Centre yesterday (04).

“The northern railway line was temporarily closed from January to upgrade the tracks from Anuradhapura to Kankesanthurai. Further upgrades are scheduled on this northern track from Mahawa to Anuradhapura in January 2024. Once these upgrades are completed, trains on the northern track would be able to operate at a speed of 100km per hour from Colombo to Kankesanthurai,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said the restoration work of the railway track from Colombo to Panadura will commence within the next few days.

He said a loan agreement is to be signed under Indian loan assistance for the modernization of the signaling system. A renovation process to increase the speed by removing the speed limits of the Kelani Valley Railway Line will commence from the first week of this month.

He said a Cabinet paper has been presented to replace issuance of tickets with electronic cards.

“When you transact using advanced technology such as a card or QR system instead of cash, you could increase the income of each of these institutions by at least 50%,” he said