A railway line beyond Matara, a dream for over a century, is becoming a reality as Public Enterprise Development State Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, together with many other dignitaries associated with the project, tightened the stays on the first length of track laid by the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) on Friday (12) morning.
Among the dignitaries who attended the ceremony were CMC Vice President Zhao Jun and Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau (CECB) Chairman Eng. G. D. A. Piyathilake, who are the project consultants on behalf of the Ministry of Transport (MOT); Cao Lianghua of the China Railway No. 5 Group (CR5G), Zhang Yongkang of the China Railway Electrification Company (CREC), Fu Zhigen of the China Railway 5th Survey and Design Institute Group, Southern Railway Extension Project CMC Project Manager He Peizhi and other Chinese and local officials.
“The dream of a railway extension beyond Matara has a history of more than a century,” said researcher and author Dhanesh Wisumperuma in his blog Diary and writings of Dhanesh Wisumperuma. According to him, research based on available documents suggest that it was in 1894, a year before the Galle – Matara railway was opened, that the Colonial Government Auditor General James A. Swettenham had mentioned the need of extending the line beyond Matara.
The project to construct a railway line beyond Matara first got off the ground on December 27, 1991, with the then Transport Minister Wijepala Mendis laying the foundation stone and cutting the first sod of earth. A brief history of the Matara – Kataragama extension in chronological order, according to Dhanesh Wisumperuma, is as follows:
* November, 1894: the survey of the Matara - Gandara Extension was ordered.
* April, 1895: the Gandara Railway Report was submitted with stations at Dondra and Gandara. (5 miles and 52.7 chains at Rs. 130,811.62 per mile).
* December, 1895, Galle: the Matara Railway was opened.
* November, 1921: a Matara - Hambanthota survey was carried out.
* Hambanthota in 1923: a railway report was submitted, with stations at Kumbalgama, Walasgala, Beliatta, Polommaruwa, Ranna, Ambalantota, and Hambantota and two halting places at Ratmale and Hungama. (49 miles and 56 chains, at a maximum of Rs. 160,459.23 a mile).
* 1990: the Sri Lankan government approved construction of the Matara – Kataragama Railway Extension.
* December 27, 1991: the foundation was laid and the first sod was cut by the then Transport Minister Wijepala Mendis.
* June, 1993: an environmental assessment was submitted.
* 2001: The Piladuwa sub-station and a 2km-track was opened by the then Transport and Environment Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. The track was used on a few occasions, but later abandoned.
* March 25, 2006: the foundation stone for the Nilwala Railway Bridge was laid by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. (the bridge was completed in 2008).
Every time the southern railway extension project got off the ground, it could not be completed due to lack of funds, until the Chinese Government agreed to fund it. On October 31, 2013, the construction work of Phase I of the Matara – Beliatta section of the proposed Matara – Kataragma Railway Extension, with stations at Kekanadura, Bambarenda, Wewurukannala, and Beliatta and two sub-stations at Piladuwa and Weharahena, was handed over to the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation—a Chinese government entity. The project, which cost US$ 278.2 million, was funded by the China Exim Bank.
“President Maihripala Sirisena is keen on commencing Phase II of the southern railway extension once the Matara – Beliatta railway line is operative,” said Public Enterprise Development State Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena at a ceremony held to lay the railway track beyond the Matara station, last Friday.
In Phase I, the 26.75-kilometer Matara – Beliatta railway extension comprises of four stations and two sub-stations, covering a total floor area of 24,000 square meters, 66 culverts, 12 bridges totaling 3,789 metres in length, two tunnels totaling 882 metres in length, and 3.4 million cubic meters of earthwork. The 615-metre long Nakuttiyagama tunnel would be the longest railway tunnel in the island, while the 1.5-kilometre long Wattegama Bridge would be the longest railway bridge, as much as the 15-metre tall Weralagoda Bridge would be the tallest railway bridge. Phase II of the Southern Railway Extension is from Beliatta to Hambanthota; a distance of 48 kilometres.
“We are privileged to be associated with the Southern Railway Extension Project as its consultants,” said CECB Chairman Eng. G. D. A. Piyathilake. “The CECB will cooperate with the main contractor to complete Phase I within this year. The Southern Railway Extension would be a landmark project when it becomes operative,” he added.
“I wish to express our deep appreciation to State Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena present here today and Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, who was unable to attend the ceremony, the representatives from the Chinese government and the Chinese Exim Bank, and all of you who have supported us and are present here today,” said CMC Vice President Zhao Jun in his address.
“The southern railway extension from Matara to Kataragama is a key project for the development of Sri Lanka, as it would link the new industrial zone in Hambanthota and the sacred city of Kataragama. It would reach far for positives of the economy and the social development of Sri Lanka and would also consolidate the friendship, understanding, and cooporation between the people and governments of Sri Lanka and China. I have the fullest confidence that with the support of all the stakeholders, the project would be completed in less than 10 months,” he added.
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