Rs 1,270 Mn renovation of Kelani Valley Railway Line

With the aim of providing a more efficient service to commuters, the renovation of the Kelani Valley (KV) railway line, at an estimated cost of Rs 1,270 million, was started at the Homagama railway station premises yesterday, under the patronage of Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana.

This project is scheduled to be completed within two years.

Around 2,359 wooden rail sleepers and 25,728 concrete rail sleepers are to be used to renovate the 59-km Maradana to Avissawella railway line.

The Minister speaking at the event said, “The KV Railway, which started in the British colonial era, should be transformed into an electric railway, to provide a more effective service to the people in a modern way. For that purpose, plans are afoot to modernise the railway line under a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Unfortunately, when the previous president, appointed a three-member committee to study the viability of the project, this committee ruled that it was not a viable project. Consequently, the ADB loan was suspended”.

“As Ministers of that Government, the present Prime Minister and I made a large effort to revive the project, even including it as a Budget proposal. To no avail as that evaluation Committee ruled it non viable. After my appointment as the Minister in charge of the subject, I made significant efforts in this regard. But they were not successful”.

“Presently, it is difficult to secure a loan again, until the country’s foreign debt is restructured. International organizations, including the ADB and the International Monetary Fund work according to an accepted system for all countries.

“By October, the discussions on debt restructuring will be concluded and an agreement with the international lenders could be reached. After that, I believe that all the stalled development activities will be able to resume”.

“Until then, we have taken steps to carry out the necessary development activities by carefully managing the available resources.

Accordingly, the renovation of the Kelani Valley railway line will be started today using the usable parts from the renovation of the Northern Railway line and that of the Anuradhapura-Mihintale railway line, which have also started”.

After four years, the unloading of a ship carrying 10,000 rail sleepers received by Sri Lanka, under the ADB loan, was completed recently. Western Province Secretary Prasadeep Yasaratne, Homagama Divisional Secretary B. D. Chintaka, Railway General Manager W. D. S. Gunasinghe, Deputy General Manager (Infrastructure) H. M. A W. Bandara, and relevant Government officials, and local public representatives attended this event.

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