India supplies first consignment of stainless steel passenger coaches to Sri Lanka Railways
The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka last week announced that the first consignment of 10 coaches out of 160 stainless steel passenger coaches supplied by RITES Ltd. to Sri Lanka Railways has been delivered to the island.
The shipment had arrived in Colombo last Tuesday as part of financial assistance offered by the Government of India for the development of railway infrastructure in Sri Lanka through the EXIM Bank of India. The relevant agreement was signed between RITES and Sri Lanka Railways in September 2019.
These passenger coaches have been custom made and built as per the requirements of Sri Lanka Railways and they have been equipped with the latest technological features, including stainless steel shells with polyurethane exterior painting and anti-graffiti coating and special anti-corrosive paint to guard against harsh coastal environmental conditions.
The Indian High Commission further noted that these coaches also have aesthetically pleasing, superior interiors with glass partitions, soundproof rubber flooring, aluminium extruded luggage racks with glass bottom etc. LED lighting has been provided in all coaches. GPS-based passenger information system and an audio-visual infotainment system are also available in these coaches.
The state-of-the-art passenger coaches are being manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory – Chennai, a premier production unit of the Indian Railways. They resemble the 78 state-of-the-art diesel multiple unit train set coaches which are currently operational in Sri Lanka Railways. These coaches were supplied in 2018-19.
India’s overall development assistance to Sri Lanka stands at close to US$ 3.5 billion. Development of railway infrastructure in Sri Lanka is a focus area in development partnership between the two countries and several types of development work, such as reconstruction of railway lines (268 kms), installation of signal and telecommunication systems (330 kms) and the upgrading of the coastal railway line (118 kms) have already been completed. Various other projects are at various stages of implementation.
OSL take:
The Indian line of credit that is aimed at uplifting Sri Lanka’s transport sector, especially rail transport is indicative of the opportunity to develop the country’s rail transport sector. Indian business/investors could therefore explore opportunities in Sri Lanka’s rail transport sector. Sri Lanka’s transport authorities are focussed on developing the country’s passenger transport sector thereby creating a business/investment opportunity. Also, along with the development of the transport sector, there is a growing necessity to develop supplementary infrastructure facilities required.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20210319/Z_2 |