The capital of Sri Lanka is notorious for its thick traffic and round-the-clock traffic jams. The quality of public transport all over Sri Lanka, Colombo included, remains extremely poor and has hardly improved during the last decade, while the number of private vehicles on the road rises constantly. The Light Railway Transport (LRT) network which is planned to be launched later this year will help considerably to ease congestion and facilitate commuting between the city and its suburb.
Currently Colombo's public transport system relies heavily on buses with rather an extensive route network. At the same time rail network within the city is quite limited as trains are mainly regarded as intercity means of transportation.
The LRT line will run from Colombo Fort to Malabe and feature 16 stations. The total length of the line will be 17 kilometres. The estimated cost of the project is USD1.85 billion and Japan has already agreed to grant the targeted credit to the government of Sri Lanka.
Light Railway Transport to Ease Congestion in Colombo
News in Asia
Light railway will soon connect the central part of Sri Lanka's capital city of Colombo to its eastern suburb of Malabe, sitting some 10 km from the centre.