Transport Sector Opportunities

The present new government had assigned a high priority to the transport network in the country. The objective was to facilitate commuting and establish a road network that supported economic growth. However, public transport remains neglected, and much remains to be done to upgrade and develop the road network as well as the railway network. 

The newly elected government will assign a high priority to improve the transport network and to provide an efficient and environmentally-friendly system to the public. Investment Opportunities available to foreign investors include:

•   Colombo-Kandy Expressway and the Port city elevated highway project will be extended and finished without further delays. The network will also connect Kottawa, Battaramulla, and Peliyagoda.
•   The government will also complete the Northern and Ratnapura expressway, while feasibility studies will be conducted to explore the possibility of having an elevated highway at 1000 feet connecting Kandy to Nuwara Eliya. 
•   Incorporate an overtaking lane at intervals of 3-5KM to ease the traffic congestion in areas identified as bottlenecks. 
•     The island-wide network of roads amounting to 120,000 KM, which includes all rural roads, has neither been developed nor maintained. Therefore, the entire road network that has fallen into a state of disrepair and neglect will be resurfaced and modernised to conform to international standards. 
•   Develop 100,000 KM alternative road systems to facilitate a higher level of access to main roads and expressways, while all internal and rural access roads will be improved to facilitate access to the alternative road system. 
• Re-fleet the current bus stock and introduce environmentally friendly buses (electric and hybrid buses) to ply within the city limits of the New Colombo. All public and private transport providers will adopt this ‘Green Transport’ concept. 
• The government will introduce a process for a single transport e-ticket system (i.e. multi-modal ticket, day tickets, etc.), and will implement an e-ticketing mechanism for all public and private transport services. 
• The government will convert Colombo-Panadura-Veyangoda, Ragama-Katunayake-Negombo, and Maradana-Homagama rail lines into electric train routes. The government will thereby ensure the public with a luxury transport service similar to that planned for the buses. 
•  E-ticketing system will be provided and introduced for all train transportation. 
•   Develop all key train stations, converting them into the functional, recreational, meeting, greeting and eating places, with malls and shops needed to provide consumers with a total travel experience.
•  Repair existing rail tracks in line with the program of adding value to train services; the Sri Lanka Railway Department will be given adequate powers to ensure that they provide an efficient, clean, and reliable train service to the general public and tourists. 
• Modernise the Ceylon Transport Board (CTB) and make it a world-class transport service on par with any other developed country. The bus stands, located on prime land, will be developed alongside servicing and maintenance depots of such bus routes and networks for commercial purposes of generating revenue to the CTB.

OSL Take: The government of Sri Lanka is engaged in an aggressive development program that covers all critical economic sectors islandwide. The government has paid particular attention to the areas of transport and highways, due to the importance of connectivity in economic development. The objective of importing new trains is to develop the country’s railway transport, thereby improving Sri Lanka’s rail transport sector. Sri Lanka’s development program has created many such business/investment opportunities for foreign businesses/investors.

VBS/AT/05122019/Z_TB2