The Study on Factors Affecting the Decline of Freight Movement: The Case of Sri Lanka Railways (SLR)

Abstract

The freight movement by the Sri Lanka Railways has had a dramatic decline over the last three decades. The freight market share of the Sri Lanka Railways(SLR) has come down to 0.7% in the recent past, which was 32% in 1979 showing a drastic decline in the efficiency and competitiveness of SLR in handling freight, relates the Draft National Transport Policy of Sri Lanka.This study focuses on the factors that might have affected this decline. SLR has played a pivotal role for the development of the economy of the country three decades ago as most of the business relied on SLR. It is significant to restore the lost business of SLR in terms of reviving the economy of the country. With this in mind, this study was carried out to identify the reasons that would have resulted the failure of the freight business of SLR.