Trends
The Railway was initially built to transport coffee and tea from the hill country to Colombo for export. For many years, transporting such goods was the main source of income on the line. With time and population growth, however, passenger traffic increased. In the 1960s, passenger traffic overtook freight as the main source of revenue. The railway is now primarily engaged in the transport of passengers, especially commuters to and from Colombo, thereby helping to reduce road congestion.
The railway moves 300,000 passengers daily on 324 trains between 320 stations across the country. Despite heavy over-crowding on the railways, its share of the passenger market is only 7 percent, while it only handles 2 percent of the freight market.
The railway is currently undergoing modernisation, under the government's 10-year Railway Development Strategy. New train sets are being imported and track upgraded. In an effort to raise rail transport's appeal to the public, premium services were launched through the private sector on certain trains.
Read more about this topic: Rail Transport In Sri Lanka
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