Steps are being taken to expand the Metro Bus Service beyond the Western Province, with plans to introduce the service in the Galle, Kandy and Jaffna regions, Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development Bimal Rathnayake stated.

The Minister made these remarks while attending the official inauguration of operations at the Kadawatha Metro Depot Yard today (07).

He noted that plans are in place to increase the number of buses part of the Metro Bus Service network to 122 within this month, while a Cabinet paper has been submitted to procure an additional 50 buses. Accordingly, the Metro Bus fleet is expected to increase to 172 buses by the end of this year or early next year.

Furthermore, the Transport Minister stated that opportunities would be provided to the private sector in the future to operate bus services in agreement with the Metro company.

Meanwhile, under a programme to modernize the country’s urban transport sector, the necessary infrastructure for the Metro Bus Service is being jointly developed by the Ministry of Transport, Highways and Urban Development, the Clean Sri Lanka Secretariat, the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) and Lanka Metro Transit (Pvt) Ltd. As part of this programme, operations at the newly constructed Kadawatha Metro Depot Yard officially commenced today.

The first depot yard constructed under the Metro project was vested in the public on September 4 in Talangama, Battaramulla. Under the first phase of efforts to strengthen the administrative, operational and maintenance activities of the Metro Bus Service, plans have been made to construct four new depots in Talangama, Kadawatha, Ekala and Ratmalana.

At present, under the Metro Bus Route No. 01, services operate from Makumbura to Kadawatha via Maharagama, and steps have also been taken to deploy 15 new Metro buses on this route. Additionally, plans are underway to enhance connectivity with other transport services through bus stops, integrated payment systems, depot facilities and parking yards.

Moreover, the Transport Minister stated that, to further strengthen the SLTB, which plays a major role in public transportation, arrangements are being made to import 600 new air-conditioned buses by the end of this year and procure a further 200 buses using SLTB funds.