Feasibility study for Mass Rapid Transit System for Colombo to begin soon

Channa Kasturisinghe

Infrastructure: The Government yesterday signed the Letter of Intent with NEB Infrastructure (Pvt.) Ltd., India to carry out the feasibility study for the Mass Rapid Transit (rail) System (MRTS) for Colombo metropolitan area.

"The MRT system is expected to be an effective solution to ease congestion in the city of Colombo and the Government is planning to implement the project as early as possible, "Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said on the occasion of the signing of the agreement at the Board of Investment yesterday.

"This system has proved to be successful in many cities across Europe and Asia. It will be a railway system which would be built above ground. Such a system will also be a very cost-effective solution to ease congestion in the city. Introducing similar network in Colombo would benefit Sri Lanka immensely as far as city development is concerned," Minister Bogollagama said.

Board of Investment Chairman and Director General Prof. Luxman R. Watawala said the feasibility study will be in two stages and the initial stage will take about four months.

"The report of the initial study will be presented to the Cabinet for approval. It will follow the second stage, the detailed feasibility study, which is expected to take about eight months," he said.

The group headed by NEB Infrastructure of Bangalore India also includes Siemens AG Germany, OPUS International Malaysia and UTI Bank India. The Chairman and Managing Director of NEB Infrastructure, S. Nagaraj said that the company is involved in metro projects in the city of Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkata and Ahmedabad in India.

"We feel that metro rail will be the solution for all growing urban cities with more than 2 million population," Nagaraj said.

He said Siemens AG is a German multinational company and a global player in the provision of rail-based mass transit solutions.

"It provides everything from single components to turnkey railway systems, and is a market leader for systems engineering and integration. Our strong team is also consists of UTI Bank of India, which is engaged in syndicating funds for key infrastructure projects. OPUS International, Malaysia is one of the leading project management service providers for large-scale infrastructure and transportation projects," Nagaraj said.