Railway line to Madhu Road to be opened next month after 25 years

IRCON International Ltd., a Government of India undertaking under the Ministry of Railways, has been entrusted the work of development of railway infrastructure in Northern Province under an Indian line of credit extended as part of a US$ 800 million soft loan by the Indian government. Sierra Global Network, one of the leading telecommunication infrastructure development and managed services company in Sri Lanka, has joined hands with IRCON International for the timely completion of this project. 

From left: Sierra Global General Manager for Sales and Marketing Janaka Dharmaratne, Sierra Global Director/CEO Dr. Arosha Fernando, IRCON General Manager S.L. Gupta and IRCON Deputy General Manager – Civil Anup Sharma at the contract awarding ceremony held at the IRCON head office	Illustration of the railway line which is currently under construction from Medawachchiya to Talaimannar Pier. Medawachchiya to Madhu Road to be opened next month followed by Madhu Road to Talaimannar Pier by September this year

Another new contract has been signed between Sierra Global and IRCON entrusting Sierra Global to construct all the railway stations between the Madhu Road and Talaimannar Pier which to be completed in record time. Earlier, IRCON contracted Sierra Global to construct number of railway stations between Vavuniya and Kilinochchi which are currently in progress.   

During the signing ceremony held at the IRCON head office in Colombo 4, S.L. Gupta – General Manager of IRCON, said: “People of the Northern Province are eagerly awaiting the running of trains and their dream will be fulfilled very soon. The development of northern infrastructure will go a long way in developing the India and Sri Lanka relationship and will fulfil an aspiration of the public of Sri Lanka.”

Gupta added: “The first phase of the project is planned to be commissioned next month and the public will be able to travel up to the Madhu Road well ahead of the start of the Madhu Festival. The second phase of the section named ‘Madhu Road to Talaimannar Pier’ is also progressing very well and is set to be completed by September 2013. This line will be restored after more than 25 years and will be handed over to Sri Lankan public”.

“The partnership between IRCON and Sierra Global has further strengthened with the awarding of this new contract. We are pleased to be in partnership with Sierra that has a rich history of 32 years and has contributed to the construction industry in Sri Lanka immensely over the years,” Gupta concluded.  

“We are at Sierra Global are excited to play a leading role in this historical project and have deployed the required resources out of our existing regional offices based in Mannar, Vavuniya and Kilinochchi for speedy implementation. We have already commenced the construction of railway stations in Murukan, Pesalai, Mannar, Talaimannar and Talaimannar pier and we are aiming to complete them in record time, meeting the tight timeframes set by IRCON,” said Dr. Arosha Fernando – Director/CEO of Sierra Global.