May 12, Colombo: To modernize the country's decades-old railway system, Sri Lanka will buy locomotives and passenger coaches worth 60 million dollars from China.

The state-owned Railway Department said it is purchasing 100 carriages and 15 diesel-powered locomotives. Exim Bank in China will fund the purchases with a lending agreement due to be signed shortly between Colombo and Beijing.

Sri Lanka Railways was built in 1864 by the British to transport tea, coffee, rubber, cinnamon, and other spices from the hilly interior to Colombo for export.