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Some trains cancelled due to Covid affecting staff

31 Jan 2022

BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Railways Department had cancelled several trains yesterday (31 January) due to a group of train guards being infected with Covid-19 and another group being identified as associates of the infected, according to the Railways Department. In a media statement issued in this regard yesterday, Railways Department General Manager Dhammika Jayasundara said that nearly 50 train guards working at various railway stations have applied for sick leave due to being infected with Covid-19 or being associates of those thus infected. According to him, there were 22 train guards attached to the Maradana Railway Station, seven at the Kandy Railway Station, five at the Nawalapitiya Railway Station, three each at the Matara, Aluthgama, and Chilaw Railway Stations, two at the Polgahawela Railway Station, and one each at the Mahawa, Anuradhapura, and Batticaloa Railway Stations who have either contracted the disease, or become associates of the infected. Therefore, Jayasundara said that 14 trains were cancelled yesterday due to the inability to deploy train guards. Among them are six trains on the main line, two on the coastal line, three on the Puttalam line, two on the Kelani Valley line, and several trains running up to the Kurunegala Railway Station on the northern line. Attempts to contact Jayasundara to query whether there would be train cancellations taking place today (1 February) also proved futile.


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