The Hon. (Dr.) Prasanna Gunasena - Acting Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development
The Acting Minister provided a written response on Sri Lanka Railways revenue, staffing, station numbers and services in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. He stated that, based on 2014–2019 data, about 8 per cent of Sri Lanka Railways income came from those provinces, and supplied annual revenue figures from 2012 to 2019 along with staffing numbers in the Northern Province. He also reported that there are 55 railway stations in the two provinces and that no trains currently operate with sleeping compartments, as old sleeper coaches have been withdrawn and replaced on Jaffna night services with air-conditioned first-class seated coaches of higher capacity.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the answer is as follows.
¶ 02 (a) (i) Yes. Based on data from 2014 to 2019, approximately 8 per cent of total Sri Lanka Railways income was from the Northern and Eastern Provinces. (ii) Total Sri Lanka Railways income and Northern/Eastern Province income: - 2012: Total Rs. 4,851.878 million; Northern Rs. 90.338 million; Eastern Rs. 132.280 million. - 2013: Total Rs. 5,423.290 million; Northern Rs. 94.938 million; Eastern Rs. 149.168 million. - 2014: Total Rs. 5,909.318 million; Northern Rs. 198.530 million; Eastern Rs. 170.878 million. - 2015: Total Rs. 6,334.600 million; Northern Rs. 336.660 million; Eastern Rs. 169.098 million. - 2016: Total Rs. 6,623.370 million; Northern Rs. 360.030 million; Eastern Rs. 160.348 million. - 2017: Total Rs. 6,477.110 million; Northern Rs. 380.600 million; Eastern Rs. 165.798 million. - 2018: Total Rs. 7,412.510 million; Northern Rs. 401.170 million; Eastern Rs. 166.438 million. - 2019: Total Rs. 7,901.320 million; Northern Rs. 465.458 million; Eastern Rs. 162.078 million. (iii) Northern Province staffing: - Stationmasters: Sinhala-medium 14; Tamil-medium 68. - Other station staff: Sinhala-medium 52; Tamil-medium 64.
¶ 03 (b) (i) Number of stations: Northern Province 41; Eastern Province 14; total 55. (ii) By category: - Northern: Main stations 23; Sub-stations 18. - Eastern: Main stations 8; Sub-stations 6. (iii) From Vavuniya to Kankesanthurai: Main 16; Sub 13. From Medawachchiya to Talaimannar: Main 7; Sub 4. (iv) At present, no trains operate with sleeping compartments to any destination. (v) Currently, new coach sets operate between Colombo and Jaffna. The old sleeping coaches have been withdrawn due to age. Air-conditioned first-class seated coaches are deployed on the Jaffna night trains. An old first-class sleeper accommodated only 12 passengers, whereas a new air-conditioned first-class seated coach carries about 48 passengers, thus meeting demand better. Newly imported coach sets have not included sleeping coaches.
¶ 04 (c) Not applicable.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 23 October 2025 ·No. 22641 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Dr.) Prasanna Gunasena - Acting Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 23 October 2025. No. 22641. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/7868