Asian Development Bank approves US$ 160 million loan to modernise Sri Lanka Railways
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has reportedly approved a loan of US$ 160 million to modernise the operations and improve the efficiency of Sri Lanka Railways.
The ADB loan is aimed at upgrading the infrastructure and technical capacity of Sri Lanka’s state owned railway company.
This is ADB’s first loan in Sri Lanka’s railway sector. “There is a need to improve public transportation in Sri Lanka to serve a growing population, expected to reach 25 million by 2050,” ADB Transport Specialist Johan Georget has been quoted as saying.
“An improved railway system will help promote the development of services and industries across Sri Lanka, as well as put the railway as a viable transportation mode of choice for the people. This is particularly the case in suburban Colombo, where the impacts of traffic congestion are strongly felt by all road commuters as vehicle numbers have doubled between 2008 and 2018, while rail commuters often face overcrowded trains.”
Sri Lanka Railways moves 136.7 million passengers and two million tons of goods annually.
However, the market share of the railway sector has progressively declined over the years, while the country’s railway infrastructure is overdue for significant upgrades and modernization and the network’s signaling and telecommunication systems are outdated while the paper tickets are manually printed for all ticket classes and station pairs, the local media has reported.
Sri Lanka Railways owns 250 diesel locomotives and multiple units, but only about three-quarters of them are operational and half of the fleet is more than 30 years old.
OSL take:
The government of Sri Lanka has given priority to the development of the country’s highways and transport sectors since connectivity plays a key role in the country’s overall development. There have been several loans and other funding received by the authorities for the development of the country’s road network and public transport sector. This has created many new business/investment opportunities in these sectors, which could be explored by foreign businesses/investors.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/19082019/Z_2 |