Railway Station Masters' Association General Secretary, Kasun Chamara Jayasekara, stated that the Railway Department has decided to limit the daily Kankesanthurai Intercity Express train to four days a week due to a shortage of Diesel Multiple Units (DMU) within the department.

With this decision, effective from July 10, the train will only operate between Mount Lavinia and Kankesanthurai on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays.

He further noted that no trains will operate from Colombo to Kankesanthurai during the morning hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Jayasekara explained that the Intercity Express train, which departs daily from Mount Lavinia at 5.15 a.m. and leaves Colombo Fort at 5,45 a.m. for Kankesanthurai, and the corresponding return train departing from Kankesanthurai at 1.50 p.m., have been limited to four days due to the lack of available train sets.

He also mentioned that the 'Yal Devi' Express train does not run daily, and that on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the night mail train to Kankesanthurai will operate at 8 p.m. between Jaffna and Kankesanthurai.

It is reported that the public is facing severe inconvenience due to these train cancellations caused by the lack of train sets.

He further added that even though these inconveniences have persisted, the responsible department heads or ministry officials have failed to take the necessary action to resolve the situation, which may lead to the problem worsening in the future.