Colombo to get its first electric train

A master plan to modernize the intercity train service to bring it on par with the existing well-developed railway systems is soon to be introduced.

Under the master plan, serious modernization will take place and specific routes to identified destinations will be rehabilitated and news features will be introduced, making train travel a comfortable and safe one, Minister of Internal Transport Ranjith Madduma Bandara told the Sunday Observer. A Cabinet paper is to be submitted in the coming weeks, proposing specific improvements to the railway service, after which the master plan will be implemented.

The master plan includes details on modernizing the intercity train services, construction of new railway tracks, development of existing tracks and installation of double tracks to identified destination, he said.

The Government of India is likely to assist the development of track between Anuradhapura and Vavuniya. In addition, eight locomotive engines and 30 coaches too will be requested from India, Maddumabandara said.

The first electric train service will be from Colombo to Battaramulla, a fast developing township with many government ministries and departments located there. A feasibility study is currently in progress. Plans are underway to extend the double track on the coastal line up to Aluthgama railway station and another double track between Kurunegala and Polgahawela. The railway track from Maho to Trincomalee and up to Batticaloa too are identified priorities. A new railway track from Kurunegala to Habarana via Dambulla is also to be constructed, the Minister said. -PK

www.sundayobserver.lk

Galadari makes Rs. 157 mn. profit for 2014, optimistic about future

Galadari Hotel (Lanka) PLC has made a small dent in the accumulated losses of Rs. 9.28 Billion in its balance sheet with a profit after tax of Rs. 156.6 million earned in the year ended Dec 31, 2014, down from Rs. 285.8 million earned in the previous year, according to the company’s recently released annual report.

These earnings translated to 32 cents per share against 84 cents per share earned the previous year.

The company’s chairman, Mr. Khaled Aly Soliman has said in the report that last year’s profit "reflects a sustained performance" comparable to the previous year.

He noted that the performance was "noteworthy and headed in the direction towards realizing greater potential in the coming years" and made the point that this profit had been earned in the context of developments in the political environment and the advent of new and refurbished competition in the hotel sector during the year as well as the current position of the Galadari property.

Soliman said that with Sri Lanka emerging as one of the world’s key tourism destination and the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority targeting 2.6 million tourist arrivals by 2016, "we see enhanced potential in the hospitality sector over the coming years."

This was likely to present both opportunities and challenges to Galadari Hotels, he said.

Galadari Brothers Company ( LLC) with 63.57% of Galadari Hotels is the controlling shareholder of the company, with several members of the Galadari family having individual holdings of slightly below 2% and 1% each. The top local shareholder is the EPF with 4.73% ranked number three among the top twenty shareholders.

The directors of Galadari Hotels are Messrs. Khaled Soliman – Chairman, Sharif Hashim Ahmed Khoory, Mohamed Hisham Al Garf, Amit Chib, Hatim Abdelaziz Mohamed, Dr. John Anthony Shivaji Felix and Lalith Rukman De Silva. 
www.island.lk

Sri Lanka vehicle registrations soar to new historic high

COLOMBO (EconomyNext) - Sri Lanka vehicle registrations hit a historic new high of 66,664 up 147 percent from a year earlier, with 2 and 3 wheeler registrations doubling from a year earlier, analysis of vehicle registry data shows.

JB Securities, an equities brokerage in Colombo said in an analysis that motor cycle registration hit 42,221 in March, up from 163 percent from 15,997 and also sharply up from the 25,155 levels seen earlier.

Three wheelers which are mostly used as taxis were up 104 percent from a year earlier to 12,347. In February 2015 only 7,994 vehicles were registered.

JB Securities said motor cycle registration were probably driven up cut price bikes given to policemen but it was less clear why three wheeler taxi registrations were going up.

Motor car registrations were up rose 245 percent from a year earlier to 5,856 unit in March led by hybrids.

The financing share of cars were 56.7 percent, 2-wheelers 41 percent and three wheelers 92 percent, according to JB Securities data.

Sri Lanka's interest rates are now at three decade lows and analysts who are watching credit and liquidity trends have warned that higher government consumption was pushing domestic demand up and higher interest rates were needed to correct the imbalance.

Fuel prices are also low pushing down vehicle operating costs.

Motor car and other vehicle registration are now at levels higher than seen before February 2012, when a balance of payments crisis force interest rates to be pushed up.

Sri Lanka's central bank however loosened monetary policy on April 15, cutting policy rates by 50 basis points despite loose fiscal policy.

The Central Bank has also been engaging in type of 'quantity easing' by steadily releasing temporarily sterilized excess liquidity, which have disappearing through the balance of payments at alarming speed.