3 new Colombo city railway lines to ease traffic congestion
The Government is building three new railway line-routes connecting Colombo and the suburbs, the first new tracks in 70 years since the end of British colonial rule, to ease growing traffic congestion in the business capital city.
These three railway lines will be constructed from Ragama to Kirulapone via Colombo Fort, the other route to Kelaniya via Moratuwa, Piliyandala, Narahenpita and the third to Hunupitiya (Wattala) via Kottawa, Pannipitiya and Thalawathugoda.
The project will be initiated as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) and is scheduled to be completed in four years (once started) at an estimated cost of US$ 5 billion with foreign investment invited with the return based on a revenue sharing model, officials said. The Government’s share would be around 6 per cent of the total cost while the daily saving following the implementation of the project is around Rs. 550 million, a senior Treasury official told the Business Times.
This railway service will integrate the bus rapid transit system at Makumbura Multimodal Transport Center, Kottawa easing heavy traffic congestion in the Colombo city limits while saving 50 per cent of the Rs.1 billion economic loss, a Transport Ministry project report revealed. The “Park and Ride” now in operation from Kottawa to Fort aims to minimise the number of vehicles travelling to and from Colombo and suburbs by providing comfortable, convenient and safe public bus transportation for passengers, motorists and motorcycle riders.
Details on the first phase of the proposed railway project were revealed at a high level official meeting chaired by Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Ministry of Finance in Colombo recently. He directed officials to include Maharagama also in the railway project plan as a large number of people arrive from outstations to this town. Maharagama town could be included in the 21.5 km Kottawa-Hunupitiya railway line, Urban Development Authority officials who attended the meeting assured the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile the government is implementing the ADB-funded Railway Efficiency Improvement project aimed at repairing and upgrading the aging railways’ network. Egis an international firm, along with its local partner Greentech is entrusted with the task of the Project Implementation Consultancy.
During this 36-month assignment, the team will monitor the contractors’ works by performing the overall project management activities, monitoring the social safeguard and environmental requirements and act as the Client’s Engineer.
Project benefits include travel time savings from reduced operating delay, shorter waiting time for purchasing tickets, reduced access and transfer time at the two main stations of Colombo, and congestion alleviation for other transport mode users, primarily in suburban Colombo.