Construction of the Peradeniya “Black Bridge” is being accelerated after delays, with steps taken to finish the project as soon as possible, the Minister of Transport and Highways said on Thursday.
The minister was speaking after arriving at Peradeniya Railway Station on a special train from Colombo Fort, the Daily Mirror reported.
Construction of the bridge had been delayed for various reasons, he said, and the necessary measures had now been taken to speed up the work and complete it at the earliest opportunity.
He said the government was also developing railway infrastructure and improving the quality of railway transport services, and that facilities required by railway employees were being upgraded as part of the same programme.
Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways Dr. Prasanna Gunasena, Railway General Manager K. Ravindra Pathmapriya and other officials were present.
The day the line came back
The remarks were made as the Rambukkana–Peradeniya section of the Upcountry Line reopened to train traffic after roughly ten months closed following the Cyclone Ditwah disaster.
LankaNewz reported the resumption of Colombo Fort–Peradeniya–Gampola services from October 2 when Sri Lanka Railways announced it in September. The railway had recorded 103 damaged locations between Rambukkana and Gampola, including 36 major landslides and 67 earth slips and rock falls, with sections of track washed away.
The bridge is behind its own schedule
The acceleration follows a timetable that has already slipped. In May 2026, Sri Lanka Railways’ Chief Engineer said the Peradeniya bridge would be completed in four to five months — a schedule that pointed to late 2026 — with full restoration of the line to Badulla set for mid-2027, as LankaNewz reported then.
Against that, Thursday’s statement is an acknowledgement that the work is late rather than an announcement of progress. The minister gives no revised completion date, which leaves the May timetable neither confirmed nor replaced.
What the report does not say
The Daily Mirror does not name the Minister of Transport and Highways anywhere in the filing, give a target date for the bridge, or specify what the “various reasons” for the delay were. It does not say what the accelerated measures consist of, what the works cost, or who the contractor is.
It also does not state whether the bridge is on the section reopened on Thursday or on the stretch still closed beyond it — a material point, since trains were running to Peradeniya that day. Readers should note that more than one structure at Peradeniya has been reported under local names during the post-Ditwah repairs, and this filing identifies the bridge only as the “Black Bridge”.
This report rests on a single verified newsroom. No account of the minister’s remarks had appeared on Hiru News, NewsFirst, EconomyNext, the Island or Daily FT at the time of writing.
