The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake - Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation and Leader of the House of Parliament

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, I table the answer.

¶ 02 (a) Income earned by Sri Lanka Railways through passenger and goods transport:

¶ 03 2015: Passenger – Rs. 5,144,357,171.29 Goods – Rs. 567,549,519.79

¶ 04 2016: Passenger – Rs. 5,236,526,322.52 Goods – Rs. 583,524,412.23

¶ 05 2017: Passenger – Rs. 5,357,913,713.46 Goods – Rs. 600,385,417.33

¶ 06 2018: Passenger – Rs. 5,933,282,779.50 Goods – Rs. 628,048,629.19

¶ 07 2019: Passenger – Rs. 6,394,844,929.45 Goods – Rs. 560,702,640.70

¶ 08 2020: Passenger – Rs. 3,481,536,563.15 Goods – Rs. 453,862,162.58

¶ 09 2021: Passenger – Rs. 1,606,842,920.03 Goods – Rs. 501,662,724.07

¶ 10 2022: Passenger – Rs. 8,486,241,020.72 Goods – Rs. 1,004,155,715.96

¶ 11 2023: Passenger – Rs. 3,239,174,994.94 Goods – Rs. 1,993,700,945.89

¶ 12 2024: Passenger – Rs. 3,748,664,705.98 Goods – Rs. 1,778,989,046.20

¶ 13 2025 (to date): Passenger – Rs. 4,788,581,687.13 Goods – Rs. 734,706,420.07

¶ 14 (ii) Steps underway: – A pilot project in 2025 (Rs. 500 million provided in the Budget) centered in North Central Province to move perishable agricultural produce (noting ~5% post-harvest losses in transit) by rail. – Commenced goods transport from Kankesanthurai to stations islandwide; feasibility advised for a dedicated rail spur to the Kankesanthurai oil terminal via the Chief Engineer (Signals & Electrical) and RDA. – Initiating MSW (solid waste) transport project from Kelani Valley to Aruwakkalu. – Under a public-private partnership framework, actions to enhance passenger and freight; a committee under the Additional GM (Mechanical) established.

¶ 15 (b) Not applicable.