Commuters travelling to Colombo for work faced severe difficulties this morning, due to widespread train delays across all railway lines.

The General Manager of Railways, Dhammika Jayasundara, stated that while 430 train drivers are required for duty, only 275 are currently in the service.

This comes after numerous main line trains were cancelled yesterday due to a number of drivers reporting sick leave, causing significant hardship for passengers.

Today, many trains operated with considerable delays.

All trains on the Coastal Line ran late after the night mail train from Galle to Maradana experienced a technical fault near Ambalangoda.

This particularly inconvenienced commuters from Panadura and Wadduwa travelling to Colombo for work.

Furthermore, a train derailment near Avissawella railway station also caused delays on the Kelani Valley Line.

Many trains on the main railway line experienced delays, with some running over an hour behind schedule.

Trains on the Puttalam line were also delayed, with the train scheduled from Colombo Fort to Puttalam being approximately one hour and 45 minutes late.

Several trains on the Kelani Valley line were not operated, and the Avissawella-Fort train was delayed by nearly half an hour.

On the Northern line, many trains operated about 40 minutes behind schedule.

On the Coastal Line, one train from Galle to Maradana was delayed by one hour and 33 minutes, while another was delayed by two hours and 30 minutes.