Sri Lanka Transport Board Chairman Lalith Alwis said that 300 additional buses will operate from the Colombo Central Bus Stand from today (10) for the convenience of those making their way to the villages for the National New Year on the instructions of Mass Media, Transport and Highways Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena.

He said that a special passenger transport programme was prepared by the SLTB for 10 days from April 7 to 17 and under it, the number of additional bus journeys will be gradually increased to 300 on the three days from April 10,11 and 12 from Colombo to areas across the country.

  The Chairman made this statement while speaking to the media after a ceremony held Saturday near the Bogambara Stadium in   Kandy to mark the handing over of 26 new buses to SLTB depots in Kandy from the 500 buses given on a Indian Credit Line.

Alwis also said that 300 buses will be used in additional daily trips from April 15 to the 17 for the people returning to the city for work, after the New Year celebration.

In addition to this, he said that every depot in the country will operate additional bus journeys and steps have been taken to speedily distribute the buses obtained under the Indian Credit Line to provide better transport facilities to the public.

He also stated that the buses received from India were cleared from Customs, registered and number plates obtained within ten days.

The Chairman said that the SLTB is losing money due to its focus on welfare activities, otherwise, the SLTB would have made a profit of more than Rs.10,000 million annually.

“Children who use season tickets are charged only 7 percent of the fixed fee and SLTB buses operate on some rural roads which are not economically viable as private buses do not operate on such roads,” he added.

He also stated that the Treasury officials as well as the public of the country should understand that the public transport services are provided to the commuters in the morning and after 8 pm and that there are direct losses due to this type of service.