YAAL DEVI! Pirivaraagena yamu yamu! Kilinochchita yamu!

President Mahinda Rajapaksa this morning inaugurated the ‘Yal Devi’ railway service at Omanthai travelling as its first passenger to the Kilinochchi railway station. An LTTE bomb blast on the Yarl Devi, popularly known as the ‘Queen of Jaffna’, killed hundreds of civilians and 28 army personnel on January 19, 1985 bringing an end to a popular mode of travel to the North.
The Indian-based Ircon International was contracted to re-build the 62-kilometre Northern railway line from Omanthai to Kilinochchi at a cost of US$185 million.
The Sri Lanka Railways charges Rs.350 for a one-way third class reserved seat to either Colombo Fort from Kilinochchi or to Kilinochchi from Colombo Fort; Rs.550 is charged for a one-way second class seat while Rs.900 is charged for travel on the observation compartment.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurated the ‘Yal Devi’ rail service at Omanthai this morning. Railway services on the north-bound route resumed after 23 years.The train service on the Northern Line up to the former rebel stronghold
resumed after 23 years today with the opening of the line from Omanthai
to Kilinochchi. President Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurated the train
service this morning at Omanthai travelling as the first passenger to
Kilinochchi aboard the  “Yal Devi” train

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Kilinochchi :  Residents here are anxiously awaiting the return of a train services which came to an abrupt hault 23 years ago.

The Indian contractors backed by local workers go through the finishing touches at the Kilininochchi railway station.

“The people are very interested to know when the train services will commence,”  says Works Engineer A.G.Sawar from New Delhi involved in the railway project.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will inaugurate the train services tomorrow with a ride on the train from Omanthai to Kilinochchi on Saturday morning. Regular train services will resume from Sunday onwards.