Sri Lanka embarks on a countrywide multi model integrated transportation hub system
With the aim of meeting the transportation needs of all public commuters under one roof, Sri Lanka has embarked on an ambitious, country-wide programme to construct efficient, comfortable multi model transport terminals connecting trains, buses, bus rapi transit system, (BRT), monorail, taxi, and 3-wheeler services.
The first such mini terminal is to be opened at Makumbura, Kottawa within the next two months to provide all these transport facilities under one roof. The Urban Development Authority (UDA) has already acquired 25 acres of land at Makumbura to establish a new city with a multi model transportation hub, Secretary of the Ministry of Transport Dammika Perera said.
A sum of US$ 50 million will be spent on this project and similar multi model transport terminals will be set up in Moratuwa, Ragama, Anuradhapura and Negombo, he told the Business Times on the sidelines of a ceremony organised in connection with the signing of agreement in Colombo this week to build the Colombo integrated transportation hub between the Transport Ministry and Maju TMAS, a member of Malaysia’s Maju Group of Companies, in the presence of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia.
With nine bus terminals and a train station located in the Colombo city, commuters numbering over 600,000 converge on Pettah facing difficulties daily to take a bus or train on time. They spend a lot of time perhaps walking several kilometres to catch a bus or train due to un-organised transportation modes.
The Central Bus Stand in Colombo at Pettah (for state- owned bus transportation), Bastian Road Bus Stand (for inter provincial – private transportation) and Gunasinghepura Bus Stand (for provincial private bus transportation) are currently operating in the city. Further there are several bus stops at the starting points and at the ending points of a journey in the Colombo Fort area apart from the Fort Railway Station.
As a permanent and sustainable solution to the passenger transport issue, the Transport Ministry has launched the integrated transportation hub project after studying various transportation systems and transport centres in several countries including Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) Transportation Centre in Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia. The TBS Terminal has been constructed by company Maju TMAS Sdn Bhd which is also involved in the local project, Mr. Perera revealed.
After a series of negotiations, the Maju Group of Malaysia entered into a joint collaboration arrangement with the Ministry of Transport of Sri Lanka on Wednesday. This was pursuant to visits by officials of the Ministry of Transport of Sri Lanka to Malaysia with a view to studying various modalities to transform the public transportation infrastructure in Sri Lanka.
An exchange of documents formalizing this joint collaboration arrangement was signed by Mr. Perera and Roslan Shariff, Managing Director of Maju TMAS.
The joint collaboration is based on a platform for technology transfer and shared experience and expertise. This service offered to the Sri Lankan Government by the Maju Group is on a pro bono basis. The total cost of the project will be in the region of US$250 and it will be implemented under a public private partnership basis, he disclosed.
The proposed Terminal hosts a multimodal means of transportation, comprising the urban and sub-urban trains, intra-city buses and taxis. This Terminal is an integral part of the city’s public transportation network.The state-of-the-art design and facilities at the Terminal that the Maju Group is to be built are akin to those of a modern airport, Mr. Shariff noted.
The signature services that were installed include systems for central e-ticketing, an ultra-modern public information facility, a building management system, centralised bus number plate recognition and tracking, monitoring and managing, and a centralised vehicle emission management.
The Maju Group had also innovated by way of developing smart-phone applications for fast and reliable reservation, ticketing and boarding. All these are home-grown and are proprietary to the Maju Group, he said.