10th Parliament· 154 sittings on record · 30,475 speeches · latest 10 June 2026

The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake - Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development and the Leader of the House of Parliament

Jathika Jana balawegaya· National List· 26 November 2025 ·Oral question: Oral Questions: Second Round - Colombo-Mannar Train Service and Related Questions

Infrastructure
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Vantharumoolai was described as a railway halt rather than a full station, where passengers may alight and must purchase boarding tickets from the nearest station. The Minister stated that ordinary trains and Colombo Fort–Batticaloa express services stop there, and that from 01.11.2025 the Batticaloa–Colombo Fort express also stops, with arrangements made for all trains except intercity and night mail services to stop based on passenger needs.

Verbatim record (translated)

Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English

¶ 01 Answer tabled.

¶ 02 (a) (i) Vantharumoolai is a halt, not a full railway station. Passengers may alight there; to board, tickets must be purchased at the nearest station. (ii) Both ordinary trains and the Colombo Fort–Batticaloa express trains stop at this halt. Only intercity and the night mail do not stop. (iii) The Colombo Fort–Batticaloa express already stops; effective 01.11.2025, the Batticaloa–Colombo Fort express also stops.

¶ 03 (b) Considering passenger needs, arrangements have been made for all trains other than intercity and night mail to stop there.

¶ 04 (c) Not applicable.

Provenance

Source
Hansard, Wednesday, 26 November 2025 ·No. 22993 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake - Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development and the Leader of the House of Parliament. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 26 November 2025. No. 22993. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/22009