The Anuradhapura-Omanthai stretch of the Northern Railway Line will be reopened for train operations on July 15 following the completion of renovations, Sri Lanka Railways says.

As the authorities began upgrading the tracks in January this year, this stretch of the railway track remained closed for the past six months with train operations between Anuradhapura and Omanthai being suspended. Measures were taken to provide public transport facilities to the general public by deploying passenger buses between the two destinations.

Upgrading of the railway tracks is handled by India’s state-run Indian Railway Construction International (IRCON), under an Indian credit line of USD 91.27 million.

Under the first phase of this project, a stretch of 48km on the railway line from Anuradhapura to Vavuniya was renovated, and subsequently, a stretch of 31km up to Omanthai was upgraded.

Following the reopening of the Anuradhapura-Omanthai stretch of the railway line, train operations to Kankesanturai will return to normalcy, the railway department noted.

However, it is reported that renovations of the stretch of railway tracks between Anuradhapura and Maho are planned to commence soon, resulting in a temporary halt of train operations between Colombo Fort and Kankesanturai until the completion of the upgrading.