Despite several railway trade unions (TUs) launching a 48-hour strike from midnight yesterday (17), all office trains were operating as usual, according to the Railways Department.

The railway TUs commenced the strike over several demands, including the removal of the current Railways General Manager (GM).

Railway Station Masters’ Association Chairperson Sumedha Somarathna said several trains had been cancelled on Wednesday even before the strike commenced, causing inconvenience to passengers.

He claimed that such disruptions were among the reasons for the unions’ demand to remove the current GM.

Somarathna alleged that the GM and executive officers were attempting to operate trains despite there being no proper programme to increase railway revenue or provide the facilities required by passengers.

He said the majority of railway Station Masters had joined the strike, while several Station Masters supportive of the Government were attempting to disrupt the TU action and take steps to retain the GM.

Somarathna stressed that the strike was not politically motivated, but was aimed at restoring the Railways Department.

Several train services were also cancelled on Wednesday afternoon, before the strike officially began. The cancellations inconvenienced passengers who arrived at the Colombo Fort Railway Station, with several passengers expressing their views over the situation.