Sri Lanka's transportation infrastructure is likely to receive a major boost if the proposed rapid transit system, an electric railway line connecting the arrivals terminal at the Bandaranaiyake International Airport at Katunayake and a new station at Colombo Fort is implemented.
The proposed Project is a Metropolitan Railway System comprising of two Terminus, the first at the Katunayake Airport and the other at Fort, Colombo, in close proximity to the Fort main railway station with two parallel railway lines running to and from these two destinations.
The Commuters from the Airport or even tourists around the vicinity of the Airport building, will now be given the opportunity to travel to the City of Colombo, on an un-interrupted railway passage within just a matter of a few minutes. The New railway terminal can be accessed directly from the Arrivals and Departures Lounges of the Airport building. The proposed railway route would go along the Airport road, then cross the Negombo Main Highway and the Negombo lagoon and connect to the new Katunayake Expressway.
It will then be constructed parallel to the main Expressway along it’s 30 meter reservation area for an approximate distance of 30 Kilometers till it reaches the town of Wattala. Here it Crosses the Negombo main Road yet again and from the Hunupitiya railway station , travels alongside the Existing Railway line until the cross-over at the Kelaniya River. At this boundary to the Colombo city limits, the new railway track would be taken across the river on a modern bridge and will reach its final destination, the ‘Fort Lotus terminal’ after a total of 15 minutes travel time.
The Lotus terminal is situated at a site with amazing potential for urban integration. With two scenic water bodies bordering the Tear-drop shaped site on either side, and a direct visual link running across it’s central axis, is the historic, Fort Railway station Terminal, one of Sri Lanka’s precious Heritage buildings.
The Lotus Terminal site will comprise of an Architecturally Modern and Versatile 32-storey Tower, which would function as a City-centre for the Local or Foreign Business-man , who would be spending just a few days in the Local capital city. The Terminal Tower would comprise of a Hyper-mall, Multiplex Cinema, Casino, a spiral Viewing Tower, City Hotel, a Conference and Convention center, Food courts, Bowling Alley , Game Arcades and a Health centre which consists of all types of Spas, Salons, Saunas, and Massage centers and it’s very own Ayurvedic garden. Sky bridges or under-water tunnels will link the Terminal tower to the Fort railway station, Main Bus Terminals and the two main roadways leading to Fort. To give the short-stay Tourists an overall taste of the City of Colombo, a Shuttle bus service will commence from the New Railway Terminal which would link all the main Hotels, popular up-market shopping centers and other places of interest within the City.
(ST/KH)
