Description
Institute for Constitutional Studies Socio-Economics of Colonial Contribution to Railways in Sri Lanka (1845 - 1905) by Indrani Munasinghe
The book traces the origins of Railways in Sri Lana with the construction of the Colombo-Kandy railway and subsequent expansion of the rail network covering many parts of the Island including Bandarawela, Yatiyantota, Ragala, Matara, and Kankasanturai. Predominance of British plantation interest in this venture, problems of financing the projects and the manner in which money was raised and organisational issues of construction are lucidly described in the initial chapters and are of utmost importance to economic historians. In the background of the record of railroad construction in post-independence Sri Lanka, the colonial contribution to the development of railways should provide useful lessons for present day policy makers as well. The department of railways was a large revenue earner contributing more than a quarter of the revenue of the Colonial government.