The metro bus service introduced around Colombo is to be extended to the urban zones of Kandy, Galle and Jaffna, and 100 electric buses are to be introduced as a donation from the Chinese government, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Parliament on Thursday.
More than 120 metro buses are already running, and a further 50 are to be added to the operating company in 2027, Hiru News reported.
The allocations
| Item | Allocation |
|---|---|
| Depots, charging facilities and training for 100 electric buses | Rs 4,500 million |
| 200 small 33-seat buses for rural passenger services | Rs 4,000 million |
| 50 small 22-seat buses for hill-country narrow roads and rural areas | Rs 1,000 million |
| SLTB digital transformation and integrated management systems | Rs 200 million |
The 100 electric buses themselves are a Chinese government donation; the Rs 4,500 million is for the infrastructure and training needed to run them.
Private operators
Private bus owners are to be encouraged to replace ageing vehicles with modern low-floor buses. The President also said arrangements have already been made to import 600 air-conditioned buses for long-distance services.
Context
Low-floor buses matter beyond comfort — they are the standard accessibility requirement for passengers using wheelchairs, and Sri Lanka’s private bus fleet, which carries the majority of public transport journeys, is overwhelmingly high-floor. The proposal is an encouragement rather than a mandate, and the filing attaches no incentive or penalty to it.
The 250 small buses are aimed at routes the standard fleet cannot serve: 22-seaters for narrow hill-country roads and 33-seaters for rural services. At Rs 1,000 million for 50 and Rs 4,000 million for 200, both work out to Rs 20 million per bus.
Sourcing note
Hiru News was the only verified newsroom to have filed on the transport proposals at the time of writing, so this report carries a single verified source. The Daily Mirror and EconomyNext breaking rails carried no filing on it when checked after the announcement. The figures are as Hiru News recorded them from the speech, translated from Sinhala.
Not reported
The filing does not say when the metro service reaches Kandy, Galle or Jaffna, how many buses each city gets, or where the electric bus depots will be built. It does not give a delivery date for the Chinese donation, say who operates the 100 electric buses, or state whether the 600 air-conditioned buses are for the Sri Lanka Transport Board or private operators. No figure is given for the metro service’s current ridership.