Large crowds descended on the Makumbura Multimodal Centre from early Saturday morning as Sri Lankans began their journey home ahead of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, with transport authorities deploying extra services to manage the surge.
The Sri Lanka Transport Board has put approximately 1,500 additional buses into service alongside the regular schedule, with a standby fleet of 50 buses positioned around Colombo to handle overflow demand.
NTC Director General Nilan Miranda confirmed that intercity bus services are operating from Bastian Mawatha, Kadawatha, Makumbura, and Kaduwela terminals. Long queues formed at bus stops throughout the morning, though authorities said passengers were reaching their destinations without major difficulty.
Sri Lanka Railways has also introduced special train services running through April 19. Key routes include Colombo Fort to Anuradhapura, Anuradhapura to Kankesanthurai, Maradana to Matara, and Maradana to Beliatta. The popular Rajarata Rajini service has been extended to Anuradhapura, while the Mahawa Office Train will also run to Anuradhapura on April 11-12.
The special bus services announced earlier this week are now fully operational, with the Colombo-Kandy route receiving dedicated services to compensate for rail disruptions caused by Cyclone Ditwah damage on the upcountry line.
Transport arrangements are expected to remain under strain through April 14 as the bulk of Colombo’s working population returns to their home provinces for the holiday.
