The Japanese Government has agreed to resume the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, which was terminated under the previous regime.
The Japanese Government agreed to restart the project following bilateral discussions with President Ranil Wickremesinghe during his official tour of Japan.
Japanese Ambassador Mizukoshi Hideaki has reportedly informed the President’s Senior Adviser on Climate Change, Ruwan Wijewardene, they would start constructing the Light Rail project after the successful completion of negotiations between the Government of Sri Lanka and the International Monitoring Fund.
The Auditor General had revealed in a recent report that the country had incurred a loss of Rs. 5,978 million on consultancy service costs due to the project being scrapped.
It will be constructed in seven phases. The first phase includes the construction of a 15.8 km rail stretch between Colombo Fort and Malabe, while the other phases will expand into the Western Megapolis.
The fully electrified network will be built 6m above ground elevation. It will have 16 stations at IT Park, Malabe, Thalahena, Lumbini Temple, National Hospital, Borella, Cotta Road, Rajagiriya, Welikada, Sethsiripaya, Battaramulla, Palanthuna, Robert Gunawardena Mawatha, Colombo Fort and the transport centre.