CL CONTENTS Page Acknowledgement 1 Abstract 2 Introduction 3 Methodology 7 Inferences & Analysis 10 Discussion 15 Recommendations 17 References e®>©9© ©ess© t3tia>©». @ <§»©)© jg Appencjixl 19 Appendix II 27 70816 LIST OF TABLES (Appendix I) Page Table 2.1 Rail passengers - coastline 20 Table 2.2 Passengers rail and bus 21 Table 2.3 Average trip length 22 Table 3.1 Regression analysis - passenger forecast 23 Table 3.2 Tally of passengers - rail (23.09.98) 24 Table 3.3 Tally of passengers - rail (25.09.98) 25 Table 3.6 Passenger distribution in carriages 26 Annexure 1 Origin - destination matrix (passengers) 1-12 (1991 -1996) Annexure 2 Origin - destination matrix (passenger km) 1-12 (1991 -1996) LIST OF FIGURES (Appendix II) Page Figure 1.1 Administrative divisions of Sri Lanka 28 Figure 3.1(a) Traffic flow 29 Figure 3.1 (b) Urban sections 3 0 Figure 3.2 Transport network in Sri Lanka 31 Figure 3.3 Vehicle volumes and accidents 32 Figure 3.4 Traffic growth 33 Figure 3.5 Speed - Flow Relationships 34 Figure 3.5(a) Urban hierarchy 35 Figure 3.6 Comparison of ixmning times on bus & train 36 Acknowledgement The author wishes to place on record, the appreciation for the invaluable guidance and encouragement given by Prof. Dayantha Wijeyesekera, Prof. L.L. Ratnayake of University of Moratuwa and Mr. D.S. Jayaweera of the Transport Studies Planning Centre , throughout this project, along with the swift and timely assistance rendered by Mr. U.E. Storm World Bank Consultant Srilanka Railway and Mr. Sunil Peiris Planning officer, National Transport Commission without which collecting the data would have been difficult. 2 ABSTRACT This study is on "Examination of change of patterns and trends in the interaction of public transport in Colombo - Matara corridor - Bus and Rail, to provide an improved service." The study was centered on the coastal belt of Sri Lanka where the rail and road run parallel from Colombo to Matara. The study area included two provinces namely the Western and Southern provinces and included five districts viz. Colombo, Kalutara, Galle, Matara and Hambantota,fig. 1.1.(Appendix 11). The requirement was to process the modal shift of passengers between bus and rail in relation to increase in Regional Gross Domestic Product (RGDP), increase in fares, and development in Western and Southern provinces. The present status of both road and rail has been highlighted along with the anticipated growth in road traffic thus justifying the necessity to carry out the particular study, in order to propose means of improvement of the present level of bus and rail services, and to realise optimum potential from the available resources. Regression analysis using Lotus package was adopted to evaluate and analyse the behaviour between bus and rail with the increase in the regional gross domestic product and fares. Regression analysis was centered mainly around the effect on rail demand with increase in RGDP. It is inferred from the calculations, that an appreciable increase in rail demand is not reflected due to certain limitations in policy, operations, and facilities, existing as at present, in the rail service. The economics of operation, for both bus and rail were analysed with the available bus and rail passenger statistics. Thus the potential of each mode was evaluated. The limitations were then analysed individually, and their affects on the rail demand were discussed. Recommendations have been made how to overcome them, so that an effective modal shift from road to rail can transpire. 3 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Colombo - Matara corridor is being served both by the road and the rail which run almost parallel to each other. The rail has been constructed in a straight alignment while the road which crosses the rail at no less than three locations, viz Paiyagala, Bentota,and Warahena, has emerged with social, occupational, and habitational requirements of the natives. This coastal belt of 160 km has elegant sandy beaches, bays, lagoons, and natural harbours and is obviously an attraction to tourists. The climate is more wet, with the natural vegetation being tropical rain forest. The atmosphere near the coastal belt is rather humid with temperature ranging from 28Ac-33*c. The main agricultural products of this region are paddy, low grown tea, rubber, coconut, and a variety of other crops varying from vegetables, yams, and spices. Most of the crops other than coconuts are grown in the hinterland around 2-3 km from the coastal belt, while tea is found 15 -20 km from the coastal belt. The coastal belt is also rich in limestone and mining of limestone has become a lively hood of a few people in the recent past, specially with the boom in the building industry. From the ancient times, one of the prime occupations in the area has been fishing and as a result almost all those who were engaged in this profession lived by the sea. This could be one of the main reasons for road and subsequently the rail to be constructed bordering the fishing villages. The other main occupation by the coast is toddy tapping. The toddy so tapped is collected and transported to distilleries in the region for manufacture of alcoholic brews. It could be well assumed, that those in the hinterland would have transacted their agricultural products with the catch of fish, and alcoholic brews, and thus the need for the former foot paths, and cart tracks to be developed as country roads. The development in the Colombo district and with the establishment of various government organisations under the British rule from beginning of the twentieth century, attracted the southerners, to educate their succeeding generations to take up white collar jobs in state sector which enabled them to secure a firm and a fixed income while providing them with a status in society. By the middle of the century more people opted to work as state employees and the need for a good transport System was felt. The bus transport service which was dominated by a few private entrepreneurs did not run much inter city services and could not cater for this need. On the other hand railway handled about 70% of inter city passengers and 50%-60% of freight. In late fifties the bus companies were nationalised and such nationalised services catered for long distance travel. The train service too was improved with the diesolisation, colour light signalling, and running of a few express trains such as Ruhunu Kumari. Rickshaws, passenger carts pulled by ponies and bulls were a common sight in this region and predominantly was the transport of the less effluent classes of the society, specially for short distances. At this stage the A2 trunk road had to be widened while some of the southerners migrated to areas closer to their work places, and thus generated urbanization and commercialization of towns south of Colombo. From here onwards railway had to surrender a major portion of its passengers and freight to the road, specially since railway is serving a single corridor between Colombo and Paiyagala, and further more buses were competing rather than complementing, and were operating at higher and regular frequencies than the trains. The same time buses as well as freight hauliers were providing a door to door service which the railway was unable to do. By late 1970s with the advent of the open economy, railway lost a fair amount of its freight business to the road and as a result had to close down some of its freight outlets and goods agencies. The region has a population of around 2.7 million and is expected to rise up to 3 million by 2007. Sri lanka in the ancient time has been well known as a centre for trade and shipping due to its strategic geographical location on the main east -west sea route. Although Colombo is the leading harbour for the country, it has its own limiting factors prohibiting future expansion due to low water depths, already experiencing high lead times,(where vessels have to wait outside harbour until other vessels already berthed inside are attended and despatched), and" limited facilities for off shore expansion. On the other hand Galle harbour could accommodate only smaller vessels due to its limited water depth. However in the past smaller vessels called over at Galle harbour and freight was handled by way of export of coir products, coconut products and sheet rubber. The railway with its port link from Magalle to Galle port made its contribution to the freight haul. 1.1 Development It was very evident that the south did not receive much investment for development of its infrastructure over the years and this was one of the reasons for youth up rising in 1971 and subsequently in 1988/1989. As a result of this youth unrest the successive governments made plans to develop the southern area. The Koggala free trade zone is one of such developments, where many youth of the area have gained employment in industries in the zone. The Kirinda fisheries harbour is also another project. Many other projects which were commenced in late 60s and 70s and completed had to be revitalized such as the Lunugamvehera project and the Nilwala scheme. There was also a plan to extend the southern railway line to Kataragama mostly for socio-economic reasons. However the work has been since suspended as economists are of the opinion that at the moment the investment should be made in projects which would bring a better return. In the highway net work the main A2 has been widened at a few locations easing off certain bottle necks, for example Pinwatte, Beruwala, Balapitiya, a new stretch of road was constructed between Moratuwa and Panadura along with a new bridge, since the old bridge was causing congestion.