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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hemalsilva" data-source="post: 17251765" data-attributes="member: 7335">Back on track! The Queen of Jaffna train rides again along 250-mile route 24 years after it was suspended during Sri Lankan civil war Cheered by tens of thousands of people, a train decorated with banana trees and colorful flower garlands arrived in Jaffna, the capital of Sri Lanka's northern Tamil heartland, 24 years after the 'Queen of Jaffna' was suspended due to a bloody civil war. 'Yarl Devi,' as it is known in Tamil, was once a popular mode of transport between the ethnic Tamil-majority north and the Sinhala-majority south. It was scaled back in 1990 because of the heightening of the war between the government and the Tamil Tigers, who were fighting to create an independent state for the country's ethnic minority Tamils. <img src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/10/13/1413193234332_wps_12_Sri_Lankan_ethnic_Tamils_.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> 24 years after the 'Queen of Jaffna' was suspended due to the civil war, the train arrives in Jaffna station in Northern Sri Lanka <img src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/10/13/1413194407397_wps_31_Sri_lankan_ethnic_Tamil_s.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Ethnic Tamil schoolgirls in Jaffa waiting for the the official ceremony to mark the resumption of the 'Queen of Jaffna' service The service runs along a 250-mile route between Jaffna and Columbo, Sri Lanka's capital. Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa boarded the train for the last 27 miles of the journey and opened several railroad stations along the way. Like the old version, the new 'Queen of Jaffna' is not a luxury train, although some of its coaches will have air conditioning, internet access and televisions. The new track will make for a faster, smoother ride, allowing the trip to take about six hours. 'This is not just a train journey but a bridge between north and south,' Mr Rajapaksa said on board the train. 'Today what is left to us is to win over hearts and minds, healing of minds. I think this train journey today will help connect hearts and minds once again.' <img src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/10/13/1413214415134_wps_118_Colombo_Jaffna_train_Sri_.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> The 'Queen of Jaffna' service runs along a 250-mile route between Jaffna and Columbo, Sri Lanka's capital <img src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/10/13/1413193259604_wps_20_Sri_Lankan_ethnic_Tamils_.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Sri Lankan ethnic Tamils get themselves photographed in front of the train after it arrived in Jaffna train station <img src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/10/13/1413193234340_wps_13_Sri_Lankan_ethnic_Tamils_.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> All aboard: The new train is not a luxury train, although some of its coaches will have air conditioning, Internet access and televisions <img src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/10/13/1413194692891_wps_37_A_view_of_the_rebuilt_rai.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> The rebuilt railway Jaffna railway station. 24 years after it was shut down, the rail link between Jaffna and Colombo is being restored The Sri Lankan civil war that raged since 1983 ended in 2009 when, according to a UN report,  as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians were massacred in the last months of fighting. Government troops were accused of deliberately shelling civilians, hospitals and blocking food and medical aid to hundreds of thousands of people boxed inside a tiny strip of land as the Tamil Tigers mounted their last stand.  Restoring the link is an important step, physically and symbolically, in rebuilding the country, the government says. 'In the past, it was not only a mode of transport, but it was also a cultural bridge between the Sinhalese people here and the Tamils there,' presidential spokesman Mohan Samaranayake said, adding that the project was an 'incentive to enhance communal harmony and friendship.' But the railroad's resumption shows that the government, dominated by the majority Sinhalese, is stamping its authority on the north. <img src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/10/13/1413193330029_wps_21_Sri_Lankan_ethnic_Tamils_.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> The Sri Lankan government has been accused of resettling Sinhalese civilians and soldiers in the north to break up the ethnic Tamil dominance of the area, and some believe resuming the rail line will speed up that process <img src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/10/13/1413194508197_wps_34_Sri_Lankan_President_Mahi.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> President Mahinda Rajapakse raises both hands to acknowledge the cheers at the rebuilt Jaffna station <img src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/10/13/1413194294248_wps_27_Sri_lankan_ethnic_Tamil_s.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Since the service stopped, Jaffna has had no trains, meaning many of the city's children have never seen one in real lifeඋපුටා ගැනීම එංගලන්තයේ ඩේලිමේල් පුවත්පතෙනි.<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2790750/the-queen-jaffna-train-rides-24-years-suspended-sri-lankan-civil-war.html" target="_blank">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2790750/the-queen-jaffna-train-rides-24-years-suspended-sri-lankan-civil-war.html</a></blockquote>

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