The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, issues with level crossings are not unique to the Northern Line; they exist elsewhere including on the Southern Line. In the North, during the war the track was not properly maintained as people were absent, and paths were made informally for convenience. In districts like Galle and Kalutara, there are multiple crossings even within single GN divisions, with the line intersected several times in one village. We must choose carefully: a railway is a dedicated track; if we cut across it frequently, trains cannot operate effectively—much like expressways cannot function with frequent crossings. People want fast travel from Colombo to Omanthai or Vavuniya, but too many crossings prevent that. A practical answer is parallel access roads. These must be requested by the relevant local authority from the Railway Department; the Department is not obligated to build them but can grant land/wayleaves. We are asking local authorities to request where needed. I understand the Omanthai situation; the solution, to an extent, is parallel roads.