Sierra Global to assist North Rail Construction Project

Ircon International Limited (IRCON) has awarded construction of Kilinochchi and Murukandi Railway stations in the Northern Province to Sierra Global on turn-key basis as part of the Northern Railway Line Construction Project.

Construction of the awarded railway stations commenced recently at an auspicious time with the presence of senior officials of IRCON and Sierra Global. The construction of a further number of new railway stations as well as civil work of railway bridges along the Northern Railway Line are to be undertaken by Sierra Global in time to come.

The entire track from Vavuniya to Jaffna was destroyed during the civil war, which ended in 2009. The railway track from the Northern town of Vavuniya to Omanthai has already been built and trains are being run. The track from Omanthai to Kankesanthurai has been awarded to IRCON. The 149.3 million dollar project is financed by the Exim Bank of India.

“The recently-awarded project of construction of new railway stations in the north has further strengthened the relationship between IRCON and Sierra Global. We are aiming to partner with IRCON on a number of other infrastructure development projects during 2013 and 2014, which will have a direct impact on the annual turnover of the company,” said Dr. Arosha Fernando – Director/CEO of Sierra Global, at the commencement of work of the new railway station at Kilinochchi.

Sierra Global is also contracted to undertake the construction of Fibre Optic Cable (FOC) along the Northern Railway Line from Parasangaswewa of Anuradhapura District to Kankesanthurai, the last point of the railway line in the northern tip of Sri Lanka, and from Medawachchiya to Talaimannar Pier, which also falls under the Northern Railway Line Construction Project.

Sierra Global has played a vital role in the post-war development in Northern Province, where the company established its Regional Office in Kilinochchi in mid 2010, becoming the first telecommunication infrastructure development company to move into the newly-liberated area with full strength.

Sierra Global has been proactively working in the Northern Province, particularly assisting telecom operators to expand their networks. Amongst many telecommunication infrastructure development projects, the company successfully constructed the Fibre Optic Cable network of SLT from the Jaffna exchange to the Vavuniya exchange, providing a seamless broadband connection from Colombo directly to Jaffna.

Sierra Global also successfully completed the 3G/GSM expansion project in the Jaffna Peninsula for Mobitel in a very short timeframe, providing coverage to the entire Jaffna peninsula in mid 2009, soon after the end of the war.

IRCON is an engineering and construction company specialising in transport infrastructure. It offers construction work for railway lines, rail station buildings, airport terminal buildings, roads and highways, bridges and flyovers, tunnels, etc.

The company was established in 1976 by the Government of India and it was registered as the Indian Railway Construction Company Limited, a wholly-owned entity of the Ministry of Railways in India and subsequently the name was changed to IRCON International Limited in October 1995.

Initially, its primary charter was the construction of railway projects in India and abroad. The company has since diversified in to other transport and infrastructure segments and with its expanded scope of operations across the world.

IRCON has completed over 280 major infrastructure projects in India and over 90 major projects across the globe in more than 20 countries. It has been a consistent winner of the ‘Highest Foreign Exchange Earner Award’ in the construction sector in India for many years.