Railway workers take French leave forcing cancellation of 11 office trains yesterday

By Rathindra Kuruwita

About 11 office trains were cancelled yesterday morning (16) because a large number of locomotive operators and train guards didn’t report to duty, Deputy General Manager of Railways N.J Indipolage, said.

Trains departing Colombo Fort to Moratuwa, Panadura, Wadduwa, Negombo, Ambepussa, Padukka and Ragama were cancelled, as a result.

Indipolage said that the cancellations had not affected commuters greatly because these were not widely used office trains. “These were trains that we had used to reduce the congestion during the morning hours when there are a lot of passengers.

There wasn’t congestion in the morning, and we were able to manage it, but from Wednesday these trains will also operate,” he said, adding that trains deployed to accommodate those returning to Colombo, following the festive season, had not been affected by the shortage of staff.

“Meanwhile, there were a large number of passengers from Badulla, Kandy, Hatton, Nanu Oya and Bandarawela following the end of the holidays. This was more than we expected. However, there were fewer passengers from Beliatta and Hambantota than we expected,” he said.