Metro luxury bus service to be introduced in Kandy next year

The Metro Urban Luxury Transport service will be introduced in Kandy from next year, Transport and Highways Deputy Minister Dr Prasanna Gunasena said.

A Metro bus was operated in Kandy on Thursday as part of preliminary planning for the proposed service.

Gunasena said the test run focused on identifying suitable routes, determining the technical specifications required for buses and assessing possible locations for bus stops.

He said plans had been drawn up through 2029 for the expansion of the Metro bus service to other cities. Outside Colombo, Kandy, Jaffna and Galle are among the first cities expected to receive the service.

The Deputy Minister said the service was operating successfully in Colombo, where planners had developed a better understanding of road widths and traffic conditions. Similar studies would be required before the service was introduced in cities such as Kandy and Galle.

The buses are 12 metres long, and the main purpose of the Kandy test run was to identify any difficulties that could arise when operating them in the city, he said.

Gunasena said large numbers of people currently enter Kandy in private vehicles, contributing to severe congestion. The Government expects the Metro bus service to encourage more commuters to use public transport and reduce the number of private vehicles entering the city.

Officials are also collecting data on the total number of vehicles entering Kandy and the proportion that are privately owned.

The test bus travelled through Kandy, Senanayake Street, Dalada Veediya, Sirimavo Bandaranaike Mawatha, Mulgampola, Gatambe Junction, Galaha Junction, Peradeniya, Angunawala, Gelioya, Weligalla and Kahatapitiya before reaching Gampola town and the Sri Lanka Transport Board depot.

The proposed route covers about 19 kilometres.

Before the test run, officials held a discussion on the proposed Kandy Metro Bus Project at the Central Province Roads Ministry Auditorium in Kandy.

Representatives of the Police Traffic Division, Road Development Authority, Kandy Municipal Council and other relevant government institutions attended the meeting.