Govt. signs $ 160 m ADB loan to upgrade railways

 Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. R.H.S Samarathunga with ADB Sri Lanka Resident Officer in Charge Mission Manjula Amarasinghe at the agreement signing yesterday   

• Financial assistance for implementation of Railway Efficiency Improvement Project

The Government has mobilised loan assistance amounting to $ 160 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to modernise local railway operations and improve the efficiency of services provided by Sri Lanka Railways.

The total estimated investment cost of the project is $ 192 million and the Government contribution to the project will be $ 32 million, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. 

The Railway Efficiency Improvement Project, which is initial investment of a long term sector development plan, will finance the modernisation of the country’s railway system in several aspects by improving the operations, maintenance, safety, skills development, and technical capacity of Sri Lanka Railways. 

The project will provide a modern multichannel – paper, mobile, and smart card – ticketing system, and will also install a state-of-the-art telecommunications system, which will replace the original system installed in 1985. The new telecommunications system will reduce train delays by facilitating two-way communication with train drivers. 

The project will also finance a new operations headquarters and train control centre, provide infrastructure and equipment for the maintenance of track and rolling stock, and improve railway safety. The technical training centre of Sri Lanka Railways will also be upgraded under the project and new courses will be developed to provide future graduates with knowledge of modern railway technologies.

Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samarathunga, on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and ADB Sri Lanka Resident Mission Officer in Charge Manjula Amarasinghe on behalf of ADB, signed the loan agreement to obtain $ 160 million at the Ministry of Finance.