Railway strike ends; operations will return to normalcy soon

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Locomotive Operating Engineers' Association said it called off a strike following talks with authorities on Wednesday (13) night.

The 84 members of the Locomotive Operating Engineers' Association launched a strike on the 12th, citing several demands surrounding the recruitment and retirement processes.

Passengers were severely inconvenienced by the strike, and a teenager also died after falling off the roof of a train at the Horape Railway Station, while the strike was on .

Thereafter, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe via an extraordinary gazette, declared the country's railway service as an essential service.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee on State Expenditure, led by the Prime Minister convened on Wednesday (13) evening to discuss the concerns raised by the railway engine drivers.

The strike by the railway workers was called off after the General Manager of Sri Lanka Railways informed the trade union members of the decisions that were reached at the meeting.

Secretary of the Locomotive Operating Engineers' Association S. R. C. M. Senanayake, said that railway operations will return to normalcy by Thursday (14) afternoon.