Railways to be declared an essential service tonight

The gazette notification declaring the railways an Essential Service is set to be issued before midnight today (03).

The relevant gazette notification, signed by President Maithripala Sirisena, has been forwarded to the Department Of Government Printing.

The railway service resorted to indefinite strike action from midnight on September 25th inconveniencing a massive number of commuters.

State Minister of Transport & Civil Aviation Ashok Abeysinghe stressed that continuing the strike is unfair even after the authorities responded positively to their demands.

He further said that the railway workers who fail to report work during the course of the day will be considered as employees who have abandoned their respective posts.