Sri Lanka Railways has made arrangements to sign a contract with an Indian firm ‘Ircon’ to re-lay rail tracks from Medawachchiya to Madhu Road, a distance of 43 kilometers.

The rail track along this stretch was dismantled by the LTTE over a decade ago to build bunkers for their terrorist activities. The cost of relaying the tracks is estimated at US dollars 810 million.

The agreement includes the reconstruction of the Madhu Road Railway Station and Nerikulam station in between.

After the re-laying of the track to Madhu Road, the same Indian company would construct the track to Talaimannar, which is 63 kilometers from the Madhu Road. The cost for this stretch is estimated at US dollars 143 million.

The first phase would take two years to complete while the second would take a further two and a half years, Sri Lanka Railways said.