COLOMBO, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government has secured a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) amounting to 160 million U.S. dollars to modernize local railway operations and improve the efficiency of services provided by Sri Lanka Railways, local media reports said here Wednesday.
Quoting a Finance Ministry statement, it said the total cost of the railway modernization project amounted to 192 million U.S. dollars and the government contribution towards the project is 32 million U.S. dollars.
The project will finance the modernization of the country's railway system in several aspects by improving the operations, maintenance, safety, skills development, and technical capacity of Sri Lanka Railways.
The project will provide a modern multi channel, paper, mobile, and smart card, ticketing system, and will also install a state-of-the-art telecommunications system, which will replace the original system installed in 1985.
The new telecommunications system will reduce train delays by facilitating two-way communication with train drivers, the statement said.
