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Monday September 25th, 2023

Sri Lanka to introduce new trains including luxury services to manage costs: minister

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka will be introducing three new trains into operation to ease the burden on travellers during the ongoing fuel crisis, authorities said.

Minister of Transport and Highways Bandula Gunawardane told reporters on Monday (13) that a new luxury weekend train will operate from Colombo to Kandy “to curb the cost for people going to spend the weekend in Jaffna, and allow them to travel comfortably.”

The train will leave for Jaffna from Colombo on Friday night and return to Colombo by Monday morning.

A daily train from Colombo to Kandy, and a daily office train from Kalani Valley to Colombo Fort will also begin operations from Wednesday (15).

The minister said that the new train will be a welcome addition for office workers.

It was noted that the daily Colombo Anuradhapura route which was in its testing stages will be continued as a permanent route.

Gunawardhana added that 20 new school buses will also be added to the system from Wednesday, and that the number will increase to 50 within a month.

Steps will also be taken to make bus routes longer for the convenience of office goers, the minister said.

Sri Lanka’s fuel crisis and rising transport costs are forcing many to change their commuting habits, but the state of the country’s public transport leaves much to be desired.

Due to difficulties in obtaining fuel, less than one third of private buses are in operation. The government recently announced that it would mitigate the issue by allowing private buses to refuel from CTB depots, but commuters say that there is a noticeable lack of buses on the road. (Colombo/Jun13/2022)

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  1. sacre blieu says:

    many will fill up at the CTB depots and go back and siphon it into their barrels, due lack of confidence in the uninterrupted supply schedules.

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  1. sacre blieu says:

    many will fill up at the CTB depots and go back and siphon it into their barrels, due lack of confidence in the uninterrupted supply schedules.

Sri Lanka sells 2028 bonds at 14.52-pct

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka sold all offered bonds in 2026 and 2028 maturities raising 220 billion rupees from an auction Monday, data from the state debt office showed.

The debt office sold 135 billion rupees of 1 June 2026 bonds to yield 15.64 percent.

Another 85 billion rupees in 01 July 2028 bonds were sold to yield 14.52 percent.

The 2028 bond is offered on tap at the weighted average yield. (Colombo/Sept25/2023)

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Sri Lanka’s stocks end down on Monday after slow day of trading

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka shares were down at close of trading on Monday.

Turnover was 550 million rupees.

The main All Share Price Index was down 0.36 percent or 40.02 points to 11,216.50, while the S&P SL20 was down 0.44 percent or 14.07 points to 3,164.52.

Trading in the Capital Goods Industry (174,037,134) drove turnover.

Commercial Bank, Expolanka Holdings, and Aitken Spence plc saw losses, while National Development Bank, John Keells Holdings and Melstacorp saw gains in the day’s trading.

The market saw a net foreign inflow of 13 million rupees, while the yearly net foreign inflow was 429 million rupees. (Colombo/Sep25/2023)

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Sri Lanka rupee closes at 324.75/324.90 to the US dollar

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s rupee closed at 324.75/90 to the US dollar on Monday, from Friday’s close at 324.70/325.00 dealers said.

Bond yields were up.

A bond maturing on 01.07.2025 closed up at 15.55/15.70 percent on Monday, after closing at 14.95/15.30 percent on Friday.

A bond maturing on 01.08.2026 closed up at 15.50/15.65 percent up from 14.95/15.10 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.09.2027 closed up at 14.75/15.50 percent from 14.55/15.00 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.05.2028 closed up at 14.25/14.60 from 14.00/14.30 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.05.2030 closed stable at 13.00/13.50.

A bond maturing on 01.07.2032 closed at 12.95/13.45 percent from 13.00/13.45 percent. (Colombo/Sept25/2023)

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