Asian Development Bank to assist Sri Lanka upgrade railway network
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to assist Sri Lanka upgrade its existing railway network to encourage more passengers to use the local railway network and solve the traffic congestions on the road network.
The ADB credit is to be utilized by the government of Sri Lanka to upgrade signaling, communications and ticketing.
“Nobody is paying attention to railways,” Sri Lanka’s Transport Minister Arjuna Ranatunga has been quoted as saying.
“Today, everyone’s focus lies on the presidential elections. However, my focus is on how we can improve this country’s transportation,” he has said.
“We opened the Matara-Beliatta rail track. Twelve power sets will be brought down from India. Another 9 power sets will be procured from China for the upcountry rail track,” he has been quoted as saying in the local media
Sri Lanka Railways has 250 locomotives but only 76 percent are operating, and 49 percent of this fleet is over 30 years old.
The local railways signaling network was set up in 1985 and those communications lines are no longer working.
The Sri Lankan Railway carries 136.7 million passengers and two million tons of goods annually.
“It takes only one third of the time a bus takes to travel to any given destination,” Palitha Samarasinghe, Project Director of the Colombo Suburban Railway Project (CSRP) has said.
Accordingly, the ADB credit will help set up a 4G mobile communications network, a new railway control center and an e-ticketing system.
The local media has stated that the contract of the communication system is to be tendered on September 2019.
The ADB is to provide a US$ 160 million loan on 0.5 percent interest to modernise the operations and improve the efficiency in Sri Lanka’s railway system.
OSL take:
The upgrading of Sri Lanka’s railway network has been given priority status due to the importance of maintaining a high level of connectivity that would help boost the country’s productivity levels and overall economic growth. The availability of funds from the ADB for the railway modernisation programmes has created many business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s rail transport sector. Therefore, foreign businesses/investors could explore opportunities in the modernizing of Sri Lanka’s railway sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/26082019/Z_1 |