The Railway development plan, targeting the next 20 years and costing US$ 611.5 million, will be geared to the expected rapid increase in the number of rail commuters, Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said.
He was addressing a meeting to mark the launching of the plan, at the Ministry auditorium at Sethsiripaya, Battaramulla, on May 11.
Minister de Silva said today nearly 300,000 commuters travel to and from Colombo by train daily. According to available data, this number is expected to increase to 1.2 million commuters by 2025.
The Minister said a large number of people had opted for to travel by train in order to overcome the transport delays by road. Moreover, train travel was much cheaper than travel by bus. As such, steps would be taken to improve the railway service to cater to the projected demand in 2025. This included improvements to the track, signal system and introduction of new technology for issuance of railway tickets and reservation of seats.
The Minister said the ADB would provide a grant of US$ 1.5 million for the preparation of this plan and a loan of US$ 10 million for the feasibility study and plan preparation. Another loan of US$ 600 million would be obtained for construction of rail tracks.
Accelerated development work under the main plan would include the improvement of Colombo - Rambukkana, Colombo - Kalutara, Colombo - Avissawella, and Ragama - Negombo railroads. Another important aspect would be the development of Kadugannawa - Matale, Rambukkana - Kadugannawa, and Peradeniya - Gampola railroads, as well as improvement of railway stations, issuing of tickets, reservations and establishment of new communication and signal systems.
Ministry Secretary G.S. Vithanage and Project Director Palitha Samrasinghe were also present on the occasion.
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