COLOMBO, Jun 29, 2009 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The government in Sri Lanka said Monday that the construction of rail track would be expedited from the capital Colombo to the northern Jaffna peninsula.
Officials from the Department of Government Information said under a project launched by the Ministry of Railways and Transport, the rail road will be constructed northward from Vavuniya and southward from Kankesanthurai as the first phase of railway track program.
At the second phase of this project, the railway would be expected to construct from Nachchikuda to Jaffna, officials said.
Construction of the entire track is expected to be completed by the end of 2010, officials said.
The train service to the northern Jaffna peninsula, lying some 480 km north of Colombo, came to a halt in June 1990 with the break out of violence between the government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels. Since then, it was operated to the northern town of Vavuniya located 340 km north of here.
