4,000 buses for commuters, 1,000 for polls related work: Transport Board head
A fleet of 4,000 buses will be in operation during the election period to ensure a smooth transport service, Sri Lanka Transport Board Chairman Ramal Siriwardena said.
He said that Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya requested over 1,000 buses for election work and they have been released from the fleet of 5,000 buses.
He explained that it is also planned to provide special long distance buses which start from the Pettah with destinations to various parts of the country.
Mr. Siriwardena said special bus service were arranged from Friday to various parts of the country including Kandy, Anuradhapura, Galle, Polonnaruwa, Badulla and Ampara enabling voters to travel to their villages.
He said there is a shortage of drivers, conductors and buses, but we will be able to cater to the demand as the private bus owners also deploy their buses to facilitate the public.
Lanka Private Bus Owners' Association Chairman Gemunu Wijeratne said that though about 500 private buses are used for ballot box transportation, the rest of the buses will be providing transport services for the voters and the public.
He said that out of 500 private buses used for election related work, 110 would be used in Colombo and 125 in the Jaffna peninsula.
Mr. Wijeratne said that bus services may be sparse in the morning hours of tomorrow as drivers and conductors may take off time for voting.
He also said there are extra drivers and buses and therefore it would be possible to provide additional services at the SLTB’s request.
Railways Commercial Superintendent G.W.S Sisira Kumara said that the department will maintain its regular train schedules and would provide normal transportation services during today as well as on Monday.
He said that it has not been decided to provide special trains to transport commuters as well as ballot boxes. Mr Kumara explained that once ballot boxes were transported in trains during times there was severe violence during elections.