President Maithripala Sirisena today saw off the maiden journey of a self-propelled Diesel Multiple Unit that was procured under Indian concessional financing by Sri Lanka Railways.

The maiden journey was from Fort Station in Colombo to Kankesanthurai Station in Jaffna.

The ceremony was also attended by Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, L.P Jayampathy, General Manager, Sri Lanka Railways, M.J. D. Fernando, Chairman and Managing Director of M/s RITES Ltd., Rajeev Mehrotra.

DMU manufactured by M/s RITES Ltd. is a thirteen-coach train set. The train set has best-in-class passenger amenities with fully rotating seats in the Air-Conditioned Chair Cars, on-board Infotainment system, GPS-based passenger information system and modular interiors. It can travel at a maximum speed of 120 kmph and will offer both comfort and speed to passengers.

The USD 100 million contract agreement for supply of 6 DMUs and 10 locomotives to the Sri Lanka Railways was signed between M/s RITES Ltd., India and Sri Lanka Railways in March 2017.

The first set of DMU arrived in Sri Lanka in December 2018 ahead of schedule and is now being commissioned into Sri Lanka Railways after completion of trial runs. The supply of rest of DMUs and locomotives will be completed during the course of this year.

 In addition, 50 wagons are also being supplied to Sri Lanka railways under Indian concessional financing which will also be delivered this year. 500 buses will also be supplied to Sri Lanka under Indian concessional financing.