Transport - Sri Lanka Transport Sector

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Sri Lanka Transport Sector

Sri Lankas strategic location at the crossroads of Asian tradingroutes has contributed to its growth as a regional trading hub. In2003, the transport sector contributed 10 percent to the countrysGDP and generated about 4 percent of employment. Nonetheless,potential exists to further develop this island nations transportsystem.

Roads: Roads are the backbone of thetransport s ector in the country. They arevital for the movement of people and goodsand play an important role in integrating thecountry, facilitating economic growth, andultimately reducing poverty. National roadscarry over 70 percent of the traffic in Sri

Lanka. However, uncontrolled roads ide development, as well as year sof neglect and poor road maintenance have resulted in low travelspeeds and poor service. This has discouraged long dis tance trafficand hindered the spread of economic activities and de velopment inregions other than the Colombo Metropolitan Area (CMA).

Roads are extremely important for the large m ajority o f Sri Lankaspeople who l ive in the villages - som e 65 percent of th e countryspopulation. They are often the only way for most rural p eople to reac hess ential services such as hospitals, schools, markets, and banks,which are mostly situated far from their villages .

Although Sri Lanka enjoys a higher road dens ity than in m anydeveloping countries, the conditions and standards of the roads are

inadequate to meet rapidly growing freight and passen ger traffic. Morethan 50% of the natioal roads have poor or very poor surface conditionand many are seriously congested. Inspite of the substantial increasein traffic volume there have been insufficient investm en ts for construction of new highways or widening and improvi ng existingroads . Over the past decade the investment in the road sector has beenmainly concentrated on the rehabilitation of the exisitng road network.

Railwa ys . While Sr i Lanka Railways (SLR) played a domina nt role i nthe countrys transport sector until 1928, its share in passenger andfreight transportation has reduced to about 8 percent and 5 percentrespectively. The railways continue to face serious competition fromroad trans portation, and have been adversely affected by the countrystwo-decade civil war. Since 1989, s ec urity threats h a ve led to the

suspension of services on the only two profitable lines: the NorthernLine beyond Vavunia, and the Talaimannar Line.

Ports. Sri Lanka has several large ports such as Colombo, Galle,Trincomalee, and Kankasanthurai, as well as harbours. The Port of Colombo, the countrys premier commercial port, is one of the better performing ports in Asia. It handles both conventional cargo as well ascontainers, and has been acknowledged as one of the mosteconomical ports in the region.

Challenges

To place the country on a path of econom ic growth, the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) needs to address s everal serious weakness es in

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e coun rys ranspor n ras rucure. ese are : wea ns u onacapacity at all levels; the inability of transport agencies to mobilizeresources; and an underdeveloped private sector. These weaknessesresult in the inadequate upgrading, development, and maintenance of ass ets, which adversely affects the quali ty of transport services. As aresul t, the sector experiences the following bottlenecks:

Low capacity of highways and lackof expressw ays to connect major growth centres. National highways,which are mostly two-lane, are

unable to carry the current volume of mixed traffic (pedestrians, bikes,bullock-pulled-vehicles and motor vehicles ). This, together with thelack of side lanes and paved shoulders, leads to uncontrolleddevelopment of roadsides and causes low travel speeds , poor level of service, and less long-dis tance traffic.Severe deterioration of provincial and local roads. Neglectedmaintenance, as well as the lack of official capacity andresources, has led to the severe deterioration of roads . Thisadversely affects farmers taking produce to markets andvillagers travelling to cities to reach social services.

Traffic congestion in town centres and lack of enforcement of city road regulations. Cities s uffer from s low traffic, unenforceddriving and parking regulations, narrow roads, inappropriatelydesigned junctions, and poorly marked lanes. A highpercentage of buses - som e 60 percent - do not meet s afetystandards. Urban streets are in poor condition due to flooding,blocked drains, heavy traffic, and low quality construction. Thelack of drainage poses a serious threat to traffic in congestedareas, affects peoples health, and hampers the development of commerce and tourism .

Poor condition of railways and deter iorated services. The lackof maintenance funds has led to the poor condition of tracks,bridges, and railway stations. In addition, the number of

locomotives is insufficient while those that are available areobsolete, and signalling and communication systems areoutdated. This causes significant delays in train schedules, aswell as dangerous derailments.

Key Government Initiatives

In its election manifesto (MahindaChintana), the Government of Sri Lankarecognizes an urgent need to inves t in theimprovement of its transport infrastructureto meet the countrys economic and socialneeds and foster pro-poor growth andreduce regional dis parities. Priority actions

are as follows:Upgrade international and domestic airports. The BIA-Katunayake Airport near Colombo is expected to emerge as aregional hub between Singapore and Dubai, and connect byseaplane to domestic airports to facilitate transport and tourism.

Develop shipping and ports . The aim is to improve thecompetitiveness of Sri Lankas ports compared to those insouthern India and the Persian Gulf region, and introduce thenext generation of deep draught ships. The sub-sector is openfor public-private partnerships and the government is eager topromote investment.Improve road infrastructure. Build a modern road network, and


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upgra e exs ng roa s o mee e coun rys econom c ansocial development needs, connect poor regions andproduction centres to domestic and international markets,enhance road safety, and prom ote private sector participation ininfrastructure improvement.

Infrastructure development is of paramount importance to meet theGovernments target of econom ic growth at 6 to 8 percent each year for the next five years . To this end, the medium term target is tosubstantially increase expenditure on transport infrastructure from 5percent in 2004 to 7 percent of Gross Domestic Production (GDP) by

2006.

World Bank Support

From the late 1960s to the mid-1990s ,the World Bank provided four loans to im prove Sri Lankas roads and ass isted in the development of sector policy. More recently, the Bank approved the largest ever investment assistance in the form of a US$100 million credit to financethe maintenance, rehabilitation and upgrading of the countrys nationalhighways and s upport the governments reform in itiatives for financingsustainable road maintenance. This loan was made effective on March2006. In addition, the Bank is supporting the Government on its reviewof the efficiencyof road s ector expenditures .

As of 2007Length of Roads 91,907 Main Roads 27,248Paved Roads 81

Access to All-Season-Roads 65Road Density - LAND 1422Rail Track Length 1,640Total No. of Ports 3Total turnaround timeTotal No. of Airports 3International 1

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Transport - Sri Lanka Transport Sector