Nearly 45 train services have been cancelled so far due to the ongoing strike action by railway trade unions.

The General Manager of Sri Lanka Railways, M.J. D. Fernando, stated that only 10 trains have operated since this morning. This includes 9 office trains and the Yal Devi train.

Accordingly, nine commuter trains from Colombo to Kandy, Rambukkana, Maho, Chilaw, Galle and Matara had operated.

The often-crowded railway stations including Colombo Fort were left empty owing to the strike action.

The railway strike was scheduled to commence from midnight yesterday, however, the passengers were inconvenienced as several commuter trains had not operated as scheduled since last evening.

Meanwhile, a tense situation had emerged at the Colombo Fort railway station last night when it was announced that there had not been a locomotive engine operator for the train running to Ambepussa.

The Sri Lanka Railway Locomotive Engine Operators Unions decided to launch a 48-hour strike action from midnight yesterday (20).

Trade union representatives said they decided to go ahead with their planned strike as they failed to reach an agreement during the meeting held yesterday with the Minister of Finance.

The trade unions had previously warned that the strike action, which was based on existing salary anomalies in the railway service, would be continued if the discussions fail.

Meanwhile it has been reported that the leave of SLTB employees has been cancelled owing to the train strike.