Development 

Modern bus terminals, a stand-out:

A smoother journey for bus commuters

By Shirajiv SIRIMANE

Early this year over 20 journalists from the Sunday Observer toured Malaysia. They went to the modern Kuala Lumpur Bus Terminal to board a bus which took them to Genting Highlands.

Many of the journalists remarked that Sri Lanka would take at least another 10 years to build such a modern bus stand. However, they were all proved wrong with the opening of the Negombo bus station last week.

The Economic Development Ministry and the Negombo Municipal Council invested Rs. 220 million on the bus stand. This three-storey bus stand can be considered the most modern public bus stand in Sri Lanka. The Galle bus station too was recently modernised.

The new two-storeyed Galle bus stand, built with funds from the Ministry of Economic Development, is the longest in Sri Lanka at 161 metres with a width of 10 metres. The old Galle bus stand was completely destroyed in the 2004 tsunami disaster. This modern bus stand has two separate waiting halls for male and female passengers and a lounge for disabled persons. It houses 16 shops, a restaurant and four newspaper stalls. Nearly 700 buses will arrive and depart from the new bus stand, serving over 165,000 passengers daily. It is connected to the Galle Railway Station by a covered overhead bridge.

Rail-bus services

The Government also opened the Batticaloa bus station early this year with an investment of nearly Rs. 100 million. The Government also launched two new rail-bus services between Gal Oya and Trincomalee and Gal Oya and Batticaloa in the Eastern Province under the Negenahira Navodaya project.

Sri Lanka Railways will develop another railway line from Beliatta to Hambantota within the next three years with assistance from the Chinese government.

The 60,000 sq.ft Negombo bus stand has 78 shops, a restaurant, office space, a film hall and resting and waiting halls for passengers. The bus stand can accommodate nearly 35,000 passengers. All arrivals and departures of buses are displayed on digital screens similar to the flights schedule displayed at airports for the convenience of passengers who use the bus stand daily. Negombo is the second bus stand after Galle to have this computer signage.

Stipulated time

Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa being conducted to the bus stand

Minister Basil Rajapaksa inspecting some of the facilities at the bus stand

It displays the route number, distance, fare and most importantly the times of departure and arrival. This would put pressure, especially on private buses which wait longer than the stipulated time to take off, to operate on time. Since the arrival time is marked, these private buses also would not be allowed by passengers to have longer stops to pick up passengers.

The toilets are fitted with sensors similar to in international airports and would be maintained regularly.

Minister of Transport Kumara Welgama remarked at the opening ceremony that he felt as if he was in Singapore or Europe when he saw the new Negombo bus terminal. Several ministers, deputy ministers, Parliamentarians and provincial councillors also participated in the opening of the Negombo bus station.

More new bus terminals would be built next year. The Government has also decided to rehabilitate 662.04 km of national highways with concrete surfacing through local contractors and using funds obtained by the Road Development Authority amounting to around U$500 million from local banks.

The Light Rapid Transit (LRT) System too is planned for Sri Lanka in 2015 at a cost Rs. 30,500 million.

This project will introduce a light rail rapid transit system for the Colombo Metropolitan Area. The first stage of the LRT system will be the construction of a 26 km route from Ratmalana to Battaramulla via Colombo Fort. This is a popular fast mode of transport in many cities in the world.

The two highways to Matara and the Colombo Airport along with the modern bus stations would help raise the overall standard of the transport sector in Sri Lanka, taking the country closer towards its goal of becoming the Wonder of Asia.