Busmen agitate for train ticket fare reduction
Private bus owners have questioned the government as to why they are not reducing the train fares after introducing a fuel price reduction recently.
The National Transport Commission’s (NTC) decision to reduce bus fares by 4% effective from January 6 has caused concern among private bus operators.
Speaking to The Sunday Leader President Lanka Private Bus Owners Association Gemunu Wijeratne said the last time the fuel prices were reduced bus operators reduced their fares.
“However at that time the train fares were still the same. This is the second time the government has said that bus fares should be reduced because the fuel prices were brought down. Then why is the government making these requests only from private bus operators? Wijeratne said.
He added that even though private bus operators are presently running at a loss they willingly reduced bus fares because they were thinking of giving the public some relief.
“If we can reduce bus fares despite running at a loss why cannot the government bring down the train fares especially since a larger number of people travel by train,” Wijeratne queried.
By Risidra Mendis
Source: The Sunday Leader
Tags: bus fares, bus owners, fuel, fuel prices, national transport, private bus operators, ticket fare, train fares, train ticket
