The proposed project that extends the railway line beyond Matara, a town in the southern tip of the island, will be completed within three years, information minister Anura Yapa said.
Two Indian state firms, RITES Ltd, and IRCON Ltd, have given the nod by Sri Lanka's cabinet of ministers to supply equipment and undertake the project in partnership with Sri Lanka Railways.
Under the project, 20 Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs or power sets)- a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on board diesel engines- will be shipped from India. Around three M8 type locomotives will also be brought down.
According to the 2005 post tsunami estimates of the Asian Development Bank, the damage to the southern railway corridor was estimated at 15 million dollars.
The replacement of equipment, damage repair and restoration of the railway corridor was estimated at 130 million dollars.
This is the most important rail corridor in Sri Lanka carrying around 78,000