Railways suffer Rs. 10 mn loss due to TU action

COLOMBO (News 1st): The Department of Railways has estimated that a loss of close to Rs. 10 million was incurred by the Government, due to the unannounced token strike launched by the trade unions. According to reports received so far, passengers were allowed to travel without purchasing tickets during the strike action, Dhammika Jayasundara, the General Manager of Railways noted. Railway operations were hampered once again with certain train journeys being halted mid-journey, after the Railway Station Masters Association re-launched the strike action on Saturday (Jan. 15). Commuters were severely inconvenienced as a result of this. "An investigation has been launched into the incident where trains were stopped mid-journey in forest areas during the strike action, causing severe inconveniences to the commuters. Police have been informed to conduct an investigation in this regard," State Minister of Transport Dilum Amunugama noted.