The rebuilt Bambalapitiya railway station was opened to the public on Thursday, five months after work began and at a cost of Rs. 60 million met entirely by the local Dawoodi Bohra community.
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya presided over the ceremony alongside Deputy Minister of Urban Development Eranga Gunasekara, the Daily Mirror reported. Work started on 19 March 2026.
What the money bought
The project covered the main building and platforms 1 and 2, sanitary facilities, electrical and water systems and a new CCTV network. A pedestrian overbridge spanning the main road and the railway line was rebuilt, and a cafeteria added.
Hiru News reported the same scope and named the executing partners: the Public Transport Planning division of the Ministry of Transport, Highways and Urban Development, the Clean Sri Lanka Secretariat, the Department of Railways and private-sector partners.
The two outlets use different names for the same programme — the Daily Mirror’s “Dream Destination” is Hiru’s “Sihina Gamananthaya”, the Sinhala original. It aims to upgrade 100 stations island-wide under Clean Sri Lanka, and has already delivered Talpe, Narahenpita, Maradana and Polonnaruwa. Work on Hingurakgoda station began last week under the same scheme, at Rs. 40 million.
The bigger transport commitments
Gunasekara used the ceremony to set out plans well beyond station refurbishment. He announced a pilot electric train service between Maradana and Makumbura carrying an allocation of Rs. 80 billion — more than a thousand times the cost of the station opened on the day — along with an extension of the Kelani Valley line and the widening of High-Level Road to four lanes.
He said the Bohra community’s contribution showed a positive shift towards private-sector involvement in public services.
Also present were Deputy Speaker Dr. Rizvie Salie, Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Muneer Mawlaffar, Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Colombo Mayor Vraie Cally Balthazaar and the Prime Minister’s Secretary Pradeep Saputhanthri.
Not reported
Neither outlet gives a timetable or start date for the Maradana–Makumbura electric pilot, says whether the Rs. 80 billion is allocated or merely proposed, or states how many of the 100 stations have been funded so far. Neither reports what the Bohra community’s total commitment to the programme is, or whether other stations have private sponsors lined up.
