With the demand for public transportation increasing, Transport, Highways, and Mass Media Minister Bandula Gunawardane intends to seek foreign funding to electrify the Kelani Valley (KV) railway line.
On Tuesday, he told the weekly Cabinet decision media briefing that the government intends to approach multilateral donor agencies to secure funding for the project. A feasibility study and detailed engineering design for the electrification of the KV railway line’s Maradana-Padukka section have been completed.
In 1902 the KV railway line from Colombo to Avissawella was inaugurated, and in 1919 it was extended to Opanayake. However, in 1974, its services were reduced to Avissawella as a dedicated passenger service.
Several initiatives, according to Gunawardena, are already underway to increase the frequency of trains operating on the line this year. Meanwhile, he emphasised that it is unjust to pass on Sri Lanka Railways’ losses to all taxpayers.
According to him, Sri Lanka Railways incurs massive losses of up to Rs.40 billion per year, while revenue is insufficient to cover railway employee wages.
