Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, December 13, 2003
Sri Lankan gov't plans for light rail network construction
The Sri Lankan government is working out plans for the construction of a 920 million US dollar light rail transit system for capital Colombo to reduce the traffic congestion and give commuters faster access to the city center, the official Daily News said on Saturday.
The Sri Lankan government is working out plans for the construction of a 920 million US dollar light rail transit system for capital Colombo to reduce the traffic congestion and give commuters faster access to the city center, the official Daily News said on Saturday.
Under the project coordinated by the Ministry of Western Region Development, an elevated light rail will be built on the 34-kilometer stretch along the existing highway line in Colombo.
On the invitation of the Sri Lankan government, a special delegation led by E. Sreedharan, managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, visited Sri Lanka along with Indian railway experts to help Sri Lankan experts to prepare a detailed project plan.
The Indian experts visited all major city roads and suburban railway network around Colombo and made a presentation to their Sri Lankan counterparts last week.
The plan for the light rail system will be implemented as a joint venture project with financial assistance from donor agencies for the country.
Colombo with its narrow streets and poor road conditions suffers from heavy traffic jam during daily rush hours and high rate of traffic accidents.