Sept 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka Railway says that five locomotives that were imported recently from China have been added to ply on the Kelani Valley rail line and the Upcountry Line from Thursday.

These trains include four power sets and a luxury train. The four power sets are to run on the Kelani Valley Line from Colombo to Avissawella while the luxury train will run on upcountry railway line.

According to the Railway Planning Director Wijaya Samarasinghe has purchased 13 power sets from China and the five arrived in August have been added to the system after test runs.

''Four of them will be deployed on the Kelani Valley route and the other will be deployed to the upcountry route," Samarasinghe said.

The other eight trains to arrive from China include another luxury train and seven power sets. The consignment of trains is to arrive in the island before the end of this year, Sri Lanka Railways says.

The locomotives are to be deployed to enhance the state run railway services of Sri Lanka as the country is rebuilding hundreds of kilometers of railway lines unused for decades in the former war zones.