Sri Lanka raises train fares by 60 percent

Sri Lanka's state-run railways announced on Sunday they would be increasing fares by as much as 60 percent in a bid to reduce losses.
The railway authority said the rise would be effective from midnight here Sunday (1900 GMT), adding a previous 25 percent increase imposed nine years ago had not helped to reduce losses.
The authority said the cost of fares had not kept pace with the costs of running the island's railway network, which has seen little development since independence from Britain in 1948.