Railways Dept. launches SMS service for commuters

COLOMBO (News1st): Employees requiring to commute by trains from May 11 will receive an SMS confirming their journey based on requests filed by employers, the railways department said. The government, on Friday, announced that public transport services will operate only to transport public and private sector employees to work from May 11. Accordingly, employers should submit the name list of workers who will have to travel by train, to the railways department, its general manager Dilantha Fernando told News1st. These applications should be sent to the department before Thursday every week. Fernando added that the railways department will then send an SMS to the employees, who will have to produce it to the relevant security personnel before travelling by train. The railways department has planned to deploy two army officers on each train when services resume.