The Ministry of Transport has announced that new Metro Bus routes with 104 new buses will be introduced from tomorrow (29), as part of efforts to ease traffic congestion.
According to the ministry, the new services will operate from Millennium City to Colombo Fort, Panadura to Dematagoda Railway Station, Kesbewa to Pettah, and Ekala to Battaramulla.
Metro bus services are currently operating on the Kadawatha–Makumbura and Makumbura–Colombo Fort routes.
The Ministry said a circular route will also be introduced for travel within Colombo, bringing the total number of routes covered by the Metro bus service to seven.
A total of 121 Metro buses are expected to be deployed across the seven routes under the programme.
The Ministry is also looking at enforcing the priority bus lane as part of measures aimed at reducing traffic congestion and improving public transport.
The Metro bus service will initially focus on the Western Province, with plans to subsequently expand the programme to other provinces, including the Jaffna, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, and Galle districts, the Ministry added. (Newswire)