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| Sunday, 30 October 2005 |
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SLCTB to launch AC buses by Ananda Kannangara In a bid to provide a better transport service to the commuters, the Sri Lanka Central Transport Board (SLCTB) has decided to deploy Air Conditioned buses commencing from next year. In an interview with the Sunday Observer Deputy Transport Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna said that as the Government re-introduced double decker buses, as an initial step about 50 AC buses will be run on selected routes in the city of Colombo and suburbs. "First we have to initiate the program and thereafter scrutinise the income and the expenditure to see whether the SLCTB gets a steady profit by implementing such a service," he said. He said the Ministry is also expected to operate the already imported 17 double decker buses on the main Colombo-Negombo road and also the Colombo- Maharagama route shortly. It is said that the SLCTB depot in Jaffna too will get a double decker bus for the benefit of commuters in the peninsula. "In addition to this we have also planned to import 2000 new buses, from two leading bus manufacturers in India, Tata and Ashok Leyland before the end of this year to strengthen the present fleet of 3000 buses," he said. He said that their objective was to strengthen the entire transport sector by operating at least 5000 buses all over the country including the North and East," he said. The Minister is also concerned over a large number of buses which are overlooked by officials and idling at depot premises due to lack of spare parts. Referring to this, the Minister said that after a thorough investigation on the required spare parts of such buses, measures will be taken to import them from India as early as possible. Meanwhile, a senior SLCTB official told the Sunday Observer that no new buses were added to the present fleet after the year 2000 and this is the first occasion that higher transport officials have focused on the importing of new buses including double deckers, AC buses and also spare parts. |
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