Sri Lanka launches luxury train service with India's assistance

Sri Lanka has launched a luxury train service connecting the country's Tamil-dominated Jaffna district to the capital city Colombo with the help of a Line of Credit offered by India, in another significant landmark in bilateral ties. The intercity rail service with all facilities was launched on Sunday for passengers travelling from Colombo's Mount Lavinia suburb to Jaffna's Kankesanthurai port suburb in the north, covering a distance of approximately 386 kms. Sri Lanka's Minister of Transport Pavithra Wanniarachchi, who undertook the inaugural ride, was welcomed by India's Deputy High Commissioner Vinod K Jacob at the Colombo Fort Station during the inaugural ceremony. The train service will criss-cross the island nation, connecting Colombo with Kankesanthurai on the northern tip of the Jaffna Peninsula, which has a Tamil-majority population.

Another significant landmark in ties!Hon'ble Minister @pavithrawannia1 inaugurated the AC Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) supplied by @RITESLimited under an Indian credit line & launched the train service from Mt.Lavinia to KKS. She undertook the inaugural ride&was welcomed(1/2) pic.twitter.com/F1TyCZzzyn

— India in Sri Lanka (@IndiainSL) January 9, 2022

Modernisation of railways and creation of new railway infrastructure have been important sectors of focus under the Indian Government's development portfolio in Sri Lanka, in line with the priority of the government and people of Sri Lanka. India's total development portfolio in Sri Lanka is over USD 3.5 billion, of which around USD 570 million are purely grant projects, the Indian mission said in a statement.