Sri Lanka to build a monorail, calls for proposals this month: BOI Chief
Oct 19, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s investment promotion bureau said that the government plans to make a request for proposals this month to build a monorail or mass rapid transit system (MRT) that spreads out from Colombo Fort.
“RFPs for the monorail project will be out within a week,” Upul Jayasuriya, chairman of the Board of Investment told reporters on Monday at a forum organized by the Sri Lanka – Germany Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
“It will be either monorail or a MRT and we have not confirmed yet for which the investment going to be made. It will all depend on the proposals and cost effectiveness,”
“At the moment the government is looking at it with an open mind.”
Although monorail typically requires public investment due to the difficulty in covering investment costs, the BOI appears to be calling for private sector proposals in the hope of settling for a public-private partnership.
He said the project has been estimated to cost 1.
9 billion US dollars by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
JICA’s transportation plan envisages monorail from Malabe to Colombo Fort and to Colombo North.
BOI expectations are for the monorail or the MRT to be built from Moratuwa to Colombo Fort, Baththaramulla to Colombo Fort and Negombo to Colombo Fort.
The project will take four years to be completed, Jayasuriya said.
He added that the project will be done on a build-operate-transfer basis with “no financial drain on the government.
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I guess which type of rail to be used will depend on the region, masses and government city plans (garden city) etc. the officials are looking at?
Will it be just the Colombo area while commuters travelling from out side continue to use existing rail services to enter the city of Colombo?
Regarding elevation; I don’t think will be much of an issue assuming the project is for the Col city only as Singapore City is only 8m above sea level. But then again which type of rail to use will depend on the above Gov vison/plan.
PS: Do we have an active City Planning body?
Thanks, Nirmalan. Of course, there are many including myself who are interested in this sort of discourse – however, you must bring it to the public domain and give it maximum publicity in order for these ideas to gain traction.
Don’t be too sure. JICA will push what is beneficial to its countries industries. Please grow wise to development aid.
Nirmalan – interesting, but could you clarify the area you refer to as being a plateau? Land between the coast and the central province is constantly on the rise, is it not? Which is why we see hills commence from Awissawela onwards. I doubt there is enough space to do much between Colombo and there.
We must consider a hybrid that includes LRT MRT and monorail..a typical MRT is kinda impossible due to the water level in Srilanka(I said typical coz it doesn’t have to be underground always). Govt must give high priority to this project and private sectors must also involve in this project..a nation that goes under stress due to traffic in a daily basis would have a negative impact on their health in the long run..and secondly TIME IS MONEY, we can’t expect a rapid growth in our economy while wasting our time sitting on those seats doing nothing..also without having proper infrastructure we can’t attract foreign investments!
Current news reports say no mono rail but a railway line. What is correct??
LRT is the best solution for countries like us. It very expensive to go underground.Mono rail is old concept which has its own limitations with safety and requirement of the people. It also has maintenance risk with the existing resources.Look at the countries like australia, Canada, UK and South Africa. Learn about Light Rail systems and how it s operate. But I am agree that it has a cost too.
LRT, MRT, Tram & Monorail each serve a different purpose. Depends on volume of passengers in peak/non-peak hours, the distance, the number of stops, etc. It is easy to say MRT is better than monorail, but costs of construction & operations are a huge consideration for the clients, and construction of a MRT system vs a monorail system has a significant difference.
It is hoped that the authorities selecting the system make a choice having full knowledge of the their own needs together with the benefits and constraints of each system. Either way, I wish the people of Sri Lanka all the best.
pretty sure JICA knows better than you
Would the system be built with cardboard? Cost for 30km of rapid transit in Sydney is over $8Billion excluding rolling stock cost !! And why is everyone associating MRT with underground? Can be done using viaduct. Secondly, why do you add another transport mode into the mix instead of fixing the existing? Change over the old unreliable diesels to electric, remove level crossings and upgrade stations. It is not rocket science. This is what happens when donkeys run the place.