Leave of railway workers cancelled

All leave of railway employees have been cancelled and they are urged to report to work immediately, says the General Manager of Sri Lanka Railways.

He added that this measure is being taken owing to the Extraordinary Gazette notification issued with effect from last night (03) declaring railways as an essential service.

The Extraordinary Gazette notification declaring the railways an Essential Service was issued with effect from midnight yesterday (03).

Accordingly, the Department of Railway is required to provide efficient and uninterrupted operation of transport services for passengers and goods by rail and railway lines, their maintenance and provision of proper security measures, signalling systems and their functioning, issuance of tickets.

The government had decided to take this measure considering the ongoing railway strike, which entered its ninth consecutive day today (04) causing inconveniences for thousands of daily passengers.