New Trains, New Hopes, Old Anguish

Youth ride on a southbound train on the newly laid northern rail track near Mankulam in the northern
Kilinochchi District. Built in 1914 with the fnal aim of linking ri !anka with southern "ndia# o$erations on
the line ceased in 199% before recommencing in late &%1'. (redit) *mantha +erera,"+
By *mantha +erera
-*../*# ri !anka# 0ct 11 &%14 1"+2 - The kids of
Kodikaman, a dusty village straddling the newly laid railway line in Sri Lankas northern
Jaffna District, enjoy a secial treat these days!
"or hours on end, they wait e#ectantly at the edge of the rails for a track construction
engine to ass $y% when it nears, they rush to lace metal coins on the track and when
the trundling vehicle has assed, they run $ack gleefully to ick u the disfigured
money!
This little ritual is just one of many signs that the new line, re-laid here after &' years,
is a $ig deal all over the (anni, the northern region of Sri Lanka that $ore the $runt of
the countrys three-decade-old conflict that ended in )ay &**+!
+layful children run to the train track in the 3illage of Kodikaman to collect their coins# which
they had $laced on the rails to be 4attened by $assing construction engines. (redit) *mantha
+erera,"+
The last train that lied the line through Kodikaman, some ,-* km north of the caital,
.olom$o, ran on the night of Jun! /,, /++*, when the searatist Li$eration Tigers of
Tamil 0elam 1LTT02 attacked the oular 3al Devi 1Jaffna 4rincess2 e#ress!
The 3al Devi had reviously $een attacked in /+-5, also $y the Tigers, resulting in
reduced train service throughout Sri Lankas northern rovince for almost an entire
generation!
So when the first trains to enter the (anni in over two decades did so in Setem$er
&*/,, school children came out in hordes just to catch a glimse of the carriages
assing through Kilinochichi, the town that was, for over a decade, the Tigers de-facto
economic and administrative nerve centre!
5orkers $ut the fnal touches on the main railway station in the northern ri !ankan town of
-a6na# days before its scheduled o$ening on 0ct. 1'. (redit) *mantha +erera,"+
The entire u$lic here is waiting for this dream to come true,6 said S L 7uta, roject
director for 89.:;, the government-owned 8ndian comany < a su$sidiary of 8ndian
9ailways < that is reconstructing &5& km of train links in the (anni at a cost of -**
million dollars!
The roject got off the ground in "e$ruary &*// and large sections have already $een
comleted! Trains now ly u to )adhu 9oad on the northwestern line and u to
4allai, a$out /= km south of Jaffna, on the northern line!
:n :ct! /,, Sri Lankan 4resident )ahinda 9ajaaksa will officially declare oen the
track all the way to Jaffna!
Mine warning signs kee$ 3isitors o6 the cleared 7ungle $ath where the northern railway once
ran# near the 3illage of Murukandhi# in the Kilinochchi District of ri !anka8s /orthern +ro3ince.
(redit) *mantha +erera,"+
8t will $e momentous,6 7uta asserted!
(adevil Jayakumar, a native of Kilinochchi, agrees with this assessment! >e takes the
train weekly with his wife, his sister and his young niece!
8ts chea, its convenient and faster than the $us,6 Jayakumar told 84S, riding on the
footrest of one of the carriages, his sister and niece occuying the oen door at the
other end of the train car!
8ndeed, a ticket from .olom$o all the way u to the (anni < covering a distance of
some &?' km < costs just /-* ruees 1a$out /!&5 dollars2! @ut the novelty of the
trains, many say, ends there!
(ery few take the train, they refer the $us still,6 said ;esarathnam 4raveen, the &,-
year-old stationmaster of the )adhu 9oad terminus! >e says the $ulk of his
commuters ass through here only when there are festivals at the famous )adhu
.hurch, which attracts thousands from in and outside the rovince!
:n ordinary days, he confesses, this little station lies mostly emty!
0ven on the 3al Devi, returning from .olom$o on a stifling :cto$er afternoon, the $ulk
of the assengers are government military ersonnel returning to their osts u north!
* man slee$s in a 3irtually em$ty train car as it tra3els between Kilinochchi and +allai. 9he bulk
of the $assengers on this train# hailing from the ca$ital (olombo# were returning military
$ersonnel. (redit) *mantha +erera,"+
4art of the ro$lem, assengers say, is that trains here dont run as regularly as they
do elsewhere in the country! 8n fact, the most freAuent carriers on the northwestern line
are former road $uses that have $een converted into rail-friendly vehicles that move in
airs along the track!
Trains cant outstri overty
Desite their multi-million-dollar rice tag, the new rail links are yet to rovide the
sark needed to jumstart the (anni economy, still in the doldrums desite five years
of eace and a massive reconstruction effort in the ;orthern 4rovince e#ceeding three
$illion dollars!
* man on a bicycle watches the Yal De3i $ass by near the northern
town of Kilinochchi. Des$ite mega de3elo$ment $ro7ects# $o3erty
is still ram$ant in the region and the bicycle remains one of the
main modes of trans$ort. (redit) *mantha +erera,"+
4overty is ramant in the region! The overty headcount in the )ullaitivu District is a
national high of &-!- ercent, almost si# times the national average of ?!= ercent and
&* times that of the /!' ercent recorded in the .olom$o District!
:ther districts in the north are not faring much $etterB Kilinochchi has a overty rate of
/&!= ercent, )annar &*!/ ercent and Jaffna -!, ercent!
:nly (avuniya, the southern-most of the five northern districts and the gateway to the
rest of the country, is erforming well, with a overty ratio of ,!' ercent!
Cnemloyment rates follow a similar trend, with Kilinochchi recording a rate of =!+
ercent, nearly dou$le the national average of '!' ercent, while all districts other than
(avuniya recorded rates higher than the national benchmark!
The rimary reason for this, e#erts say, has $een slow jo$ creation! "ishing and
agriculture constitute the $ulk of the (annis economic activity, $ut olicies aimed at
creating markets and $ringing in $uyers are rare!
4rivate sector involvement, while on the rise, has not $een a$le to $reathe life into an
economy reeatedly amutated $y the conflict!
0conomists $lame a losided olicy framework, that has oured millions into large
infrastructure develoment without aying adeAuate attention to revitalising local
income generation, for the chronic overty in the north on
Dnushka Eijesinha, economist and olicy advisor at the .olom$o-$ased think-tank
8nstitute of 4olicy Studies, told 84S that if transorting $ulk cargo $y rail is made
cheaer, goods from the (anni could achieve a more attractive rice!
@ut for the northern railway to $ecome a real urveyor of economic success, more
attention, more incentives and more funds need to $e directed to the medium- and
small-scale (anni entrereneur!
The new transort FlineG can certainly $oost economic connectivity of $usinesses in
Jaffna and )annar,6 Eijesinha said! H@ut enterrise olicies must focus on heling to
grow indigenous $usinesses in these regions! :therwise the enhanced connectivity
might $enefit $usinesses coming from outside into these regions more than it hels
$usinesses that are already struggling to grow!6

4olicies that imrove the $usiness climate, access to finance, technology and
$usiness skills will $e key,6 Eijesinha concluded!
0conomist )uttukrishna Sarvananthan, who secialises in the northern economy, told
84S that $efore the conflict eruted, the northern region $rought in the highest er-
region revenue to the 9ailways Deartment! This was likely due to the fact that the
;orthern Line was the longest in the country, with -, station stos!
Sarvananthan, who heads the 4oint 4edro 8nstitute of Develoment in Jaffna,
emhasised that the government needs to come u with an integrated lan to
caitalise on cheaer costs made ossi$le $y the railway!
The 7overnment should incentivise rivate $usinesses to set u warehouses
adjoining the main railway stations in order to sur cargo trade via railroads,6 he
stated!
The re-oening of the rail line to the ;orthern 4rovince rovides healthy cometition
to road transort services, $oth cargo and assenger, there$y reducing the transort
costs to assengers and $usinesses alike!
The resulting reduction in the transaction costs of $usinesses is likely to $enefit
consumers $y the reduction in rices of consumer goods and services,6 he concluded!
8f no such integrated lans are made, a familiar refrain will echo in the (anni, with a
large infrastructure roject leaving a overty-stricken community in awe, $ut in reality
no $etter off than they were $efore!
0dited $y Kanya DAlmeida
Posted by Thavam