140 journeys being cancelled today (July 05) in Sri Lanka – no fuel for railway workers to report for duty

The public has been severely affected by the strike action launched by railway workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Nearly 140 trains, including office and intercity trains scheduled for today (July 05) have been cancelled due to the strike, the Sri Lanka Railways Station Masters’ Union (SLRSMU) said.

SLRSMU President Sumedha Somaratne said railway employees staged protests demanding fuel for them to report for duty, adding that their actions led to train operations being affected.

“If the government made the railways an essential service, the employees in the department should fall under the same category.” If the government did not treat all the sectors in the railway department equally, the whole railway operations would grind to a halt by tomorrow or the day after, worsening the present predicament. As a result, the entire government sector will be paralysed.” Somarathne said.

40 train journeys were cancelled as of 3:00 PM today (July 05) owing to the strike by employees at the Dematagoda Railway Station.

The Railway Department said if the strike action is not called off by 10:00 PM, 140 train journeys would be cancelled.