Passenger Transport Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has directed the Sri Lanka Transport Board and the National Transport Commission to take steps to resume the inter-provincial bus services in all districts except Colombo and Gampaha districts from May 26.
Accordingly, Inter-Provincial SLTB and private bus services will resume on May 26 strictly adhering to the guidelines issued by the health and security authorities.
Under this programme, buses will operate via five main roads but will not reach up to Colombo. Inter-provincial buses operating along the Colombo-Kandy main road will travel only up to Nittambuwa.
Along the Colombo 05 main road, buses will operate up to Minuwangoda. The Inter-provincial buses operating along Galle road will travel up to Panadura.
The Inter-provincial buses travelling along both High-Level road and Low-Level road via Avissawella will only operate up to Avissawella. The Inter-provincial buses travelling towards Colombo along the Anuradhapura – Puttalam and Kuliyapitiya – Negombo roads will only operate up to Negombo.
Along the Southern Expressway, the operation of buses from Hambantota will conclude at Kottawa. Operation of Inter-provincial buses will begin at 4:30 am and conclude at 6:00 pm.
Meanwhile, fare should be charged only to the location the passenger travels and the destinations should be displayed in front of all the buses. All passengers are required to wear face masks when travelling.
Meanwhile, the validity period of licenses of all private buses has also been extended till June 30 by the NTC.