Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Nimal Siripala De Silva has appointed a committee headed by the General Manger of Railways, S M Abeywickrama to look into the near-miss collision of trains near the Shrawasthipura Railway Station in Anuradhapura on Thursday.
The Committee has already obtained statements from the engine drivers and guards of the Yaal Devi and the Thalaimannar trains, the Station Master of the Shrawasthipura Railway Station, and the railway signals controller at Anuradhapura.
The Yal Devi train traveling from Medawachchiya to Colombo Fort and Thalaimannar train travelling from Colombo Fort to Mannar have approached each other on the same track near the Shrawasthipura Railway Station around 2 pm on Wednesday.
However, the drivers of the two trains with great effort have applied brakes and stopped the trains preventing a deadly catastrophe just in time.
Earlier this month 32 people received non-life threatening injuries when a train plying from Colombo rammed into a stationary train on the same track in Panaliya, Polgahawela.
The Minister said the public will lose confidence in the railway service if such unfortunate incidents happen frequently.
The inquiry is scheduled to be completed within a week, and disciplinary action is expected to be taken against the wrongdoers.
