Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2019-05-07

Railway Efficiency Improvement Project

- It has been planned to implement a Railway Efficiency Improvement Project to cater to the increasing demand on railway sector by modernizing the railway network with a view to improving the operational efficiency of the Department of Sri Lanka Railways, strengthening of the maintenance capacity, improving railway safety, upgrading the technology training centres and strengthening of the project implementation capacity. This project will contribute to improve the passenger attractiveness for railway transport, the market share of railway transport, easing the impact on road congestion and support the development competitive services, industries and supply chains of the urban areas. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, the Minister of Finance, to conduct negotiations for obtaining financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank and enter into a loan agreement with the said bank, was approved by the Cabinet.