06 Nov 2026 | BY Buddhika Samaraweera
The Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) has 7,130 registered buses but only around 5,000 of these are currently in a condition suitable for operation, the Deputy Highways and Transport Minister Dr Prasanna Gunasena stated. He made this statement in Parliament yesterday (5), in response to a question raised by Opposition Parliamentarian Rohitha Abeygunawardhana. Of the total, 6,987 are ordinary buses, while 143 are luxury buses.
Meanwhile, the number of private buses operating in the Western Province stands at 5,520-5,524, while 2,433 operate in the Central Province and 1,326 in the Southern Province. A further 976 private buses operate in the Northern Province, 520 in the Eastern Province, 1,324 in the North-Western Province, 509 in the North-Central Province, 1,043 in the Uva Province and 1,866 in the Sabaragamuwa Province. The National Transport Commission (NTC) had issued permits to 2,966 private buses as of 1 October. Accordingly, permits have been issued for 1,826 ordinary service buses, 257 semi-luxury buses, 651 luxury buses and 232 super-luxury buses. A total of 15,517 private buses are registered with the NTC. However, only around 12,000 private buses are in daily operation.
However, Dr Gunasena said that the number of buses holding licences did not mean that all those buses were operating daily. "The private bus industry has faced difficulties during the Covid-19 period and many operators have been forced to sell their buses because of financial difficulties."
The situation is similar with the SLTB fleet, he said.
Further, Abeygunawardhana said that while the prices of bus spare parts are increasing almost daily, no regulated price had so far been set for such items. He asked whether a mechanism would be introduced to address the prices of spare parts, tyres and other components required for bus maintenance.
Responding, Dr Gunasena said that the Government planned to change the method used to determine bus fares so that all costs involved in operating and maintaining buses would be taken into consideration. "We hope to move towards a system where bus fares are determined by taking into account all the costs, including the maintenance costs of buses and the prices of spare parts," he said.
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