Deputy Minister of Transport Prasanna Gunasena said the government has used the current period of railway closures and disruptions to carry out several infrastructure projects that would otherwise have required trains to be halted for construction.
He said some locations, including the Kadigamuwa tunnel, had deteriorated to the point where buses could pass through only with difficulty, and that the Roads Development Authority had been challenged to complete the necessary work within the period when railway operations were suspended. The authority accepted the challenge and completed the work with its employees.
He said similar work was being carried out at the Mahaiyawa Tunnel, which is currently not being used for train operations. According to the Deputy Minister, the railway track can be removed and the tunnel renovated during the period when train services are suspended.
Gunasena also said plans were underway to construct what would be Sri Lanka’s largest skywalk at the Kandy Multimodal Transport Terminal (KMT), connecting the High School area with the terminal, railway station and Kandy National Hospital.
He said instructions had been given to complete the skywalk before the railway line to Kandy is restored, so that construction would not disrupt train operations once services resume. (Newswire)
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