No New Japanese Trains for Sri Lanka: Viral Photo Shows 1970 Class S5 Import

Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel A post labelled “News” claimed that Sri Lanka had received two luxury train sets from Japan, and it spread on social media as if it were fresh news. For Sri Lankans who depend on the railways, news of new trains from Japa

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A post labelled “News” claimed that Sri Lanka had received two luxury train sets from Japan, and it spread on social media as if it were fresh news. For Sri Lankans who depend on the railways, news of new trains from Japan sounds both plausible and welcome, which helped the post travel. Here is the post that carried the claim.

Social Media Posts:

Facebook post by Friends Who Like Anura Kumara Dissanayake with a Japan Express blue train and a Sinhala headline claiming two luxury trains were brought from Japan

Facebook | Archived Link

Fact-Check:

No official body has announced any recent train import from Japan

If two luxury train sets had recently been imported from Japan, mainstream media would have reported it. Our search found no such report. Neither the Sri Lankan government, the Railway Department nor the Embassy of Japan has officially announced any recent donation or purchase of such trains.

On close inspection, the train in the post is a blue Sri Lanka Railways Class S5 (Hitachi) engine numbered 718.

Blue Japan Express luxury train in front of a Japanese flag, with the number 718 marked in a red box

We searched for that number to identify the train.

The train in the photograph was imported from Japan in 1970

Several social media groups on railway history have posted photographs of this Class S5 (No. 718) train, describing it as an old train imported from Hitachi of Japan in the 1970s. See those posts here and here.

Old photo of a Japanese Hitachi Class S5 718 train with people posing in front, number 718 marked in a red box, shared in a train enthusiast Facebook group

Only two Class S5 (Hitachi) sets were imported, in 1970

Hitachi of Japan built these trains in 1969, and they were imported to Sri Lanka. Only two sets of this type were imported. Each set had two power cars and three passenger coaches, five in all, with a total capacity of 100 passengers. They could run on every line except the Kelani Valley line, including the Upcountry line, and were mainly used for reserved tourist trips. More information is available here and here.

The viral post left out that the trains arrived in the 1970s

The background post behind the viral photographs is here. It states that Sri Lanka received the two train sets in the 1970s, not recently. However, subsequent posts omitted this background and labelled the trains “News,” misleading viewers into thinking they had just been received.

Railway Department confirms no recent import from Japan

We also asked the media spokesperson of the Sri Lanka Railways Department, who said no trains had been imported from Japan recently. He added that the train in the photograph was imported in 1970 and had since been withdrawn from service.

Ministry of Transport and Highways also denies any recent import

We also asked the Coordinating Secretary to the Minister of Transport and Highways, who likewise said no train sets had been imported from Japan recently.

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Conclusion:

Our fact check found that the social media post labelled “News,” which claimed that two luxury train sets were imported from Japan to Sri Lanka, is misleading. No such import has happened recently. The train in the photograph is Class S5 No. 718, built in 1969 and imported from Japan in 1970.

The Sri Lanka Railways Department confirmed that this train has been withdrawn from service. Both its media spokesperson and the Coordinating Secretary to the Minister of Transport and Highways confirmed that no train sets were recently imported from Japan.