Train back on 'death track'

2005-02-20 11:40

Peraliya - Sri Lanka reopened its tsunami-ravaged railroad Sunday, sending the first train along the reconstructed tracks past the spot where the December 26 killer waves swept away a passenger train, killing nearly 2 000 people.

The symbolic, 120km journey from the capital, Colombo, took cabinet ministers and other dignitaries to the train disaster site at Peraliya village following a visit to a nearby Buddhist temple, where they honoured the victims and chanted blessings for the journey.

Shortly after, the flag-decorated engine 850 and its six blue-white-and-yellow coaches continued along the restored rail line, passing by three wrecked coaches of the Queen of the Sea, which have been put on parallel tracks as a reminder of the tragedy.

As the train pulled out, scores of people at the station, which was also decorated with Sri Lankan flags and oil lamps - a symbol of goodwill - clapped and cheered.

Engine 59 and the eight coaches of the Queen of the Sea have become an icon of the December 26 tragedy that killed nearly 31 000 people on this island.

Of the 2 000 victims, 824 bodies were found. Some were passengers, others were villagers who climbed onto the train in an attempt to get above the water. Scores were buried in mass graves.

"It will be a site people will not forget for a very long time," said Priyal de Silva, the general manager of the state-run railways.

In Peraliya, which was wiped away by the tsunami and where tents for the homeless still dot the landscape of uprooted coconut trees and strewn debris, fisherman Kumudu Priyantha pointed to a coach where he put his wife and two young daughters quickly after the waves smashed their house. He found them dead a day later.

"This train is a monster that swallowed my family," the 38-year-old said.

"We still can't believe how the sea managed to topple this train," said Bladina Perera, who traveled with her family and friends from a town north of Colombo to inspect the damage.

While many people looked forward to the resumed rail services, for some the memory of the tragedy was too fresh.

Station manager Nimal Premasiri was on the train with his family when the waves struck. He lost his wife and 18-year-old daughter.

The train had been chugging slowly up the sandy, palm-fringed coast and was at Peraliya, near the historic city of Galle, when the waves struck, twisting the 80-ton engine.

On Sunday, workers with shovels and other tools were frantically putting the final touches on the new tracks. "This is a special train to inaugurate and test the track," de Silva said.

Regular service won't resume yet, he said, adding the signaling system and the track were still not up to pre-tsunami standards. Some of the signaling between stations will be done manually, he said.

- AP