Sri Lanka Railways

Sri Lanka Railways

Type	Governmental department
Founded	1858
Headquarters	Colombo, Sri Lanka
Key people	P. P. Wijesekara, General Manager
Industry	Rail transport
Revenue	- LKR 7,500,000,000
Website	www.railway.gov.lk

Sri Lanka Railway Department (former CGR – Ceylon Government Railway) is a key department of Sri Lankan Government under Ministry of Transport with a history that begins in 1858. Sri Lankan Government Railway operates five main routes linking Colombo - the commercial capital of Sri Lanka - and many locations including very remote areas.

Overview

Though the British established the railway system, the golden era of Sri Lankan Railway System was during 1955 – 1970 under the management of Mr. B.D. Rampala, the most respected chief mechanical engineer and late General Manager of CGR.

Presently the Sri Lankan Railway network consists of 1,508 kilometres with 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge. The railway contains some of the most magnificent scenic rail routes in the world. Particularly the Main Line winding through both natural beauties such as waterfalls, natural forest mountains, misty peaks and precipices, as well as man made festoons such as tea estates, pine forests and sensation engineering stuffs including bridges and peak level stations.

The narrow gauge lines are, or were, 2 ft 6 in (762 mm).

History

The Railway Network was introduced by the British in 1864. The main reason for building a railway system in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) was to transport Tea and Coffee from the hill country to Colombo. Initially the service began with the Main Line of 54 kilometres connecting Colombo and Ambepussa.

Extensions were made to the main line in 1867, 1874, 1885, 1894 and 1924, extending its service to Kandy, Nawalapitiya, Nanu Oya, Bandarawela and Badulla, respectively. Many other railway lines were added to Ceylon Railway System within the first century of its life, such as a line to Matale in 1880, Coast Railway Line in 1895, Northern Line in 1905, Mannar Line in 1914, Kelani Valley in 1919, Puttalam Line in 1926, and Railway Line to Batticaloa and Trincomalee in 1928. Thereafter, no more extensions were added to the Sri Lankan (Ceylon) Railway Routes as the British left the country for native rule.

Class M6 loco haul Udarata Menike Train from Badulla to Colombo

Till 1953, Sri Lankan Railway served with steam locomotives and enhanced its service to more power with diesel locomotives. Various types of diesel locos were added to the service.

Railway routes

• Main Line – Colombo to Badulla.
• Matale Line from Peradeniya junction to Kandy and Matale.
• Udupussellawa Line (narrow gauge) from Nanu Oya junction to Ragala via Nuwara Eliya - Track abandoned in 1940.

• Southern Line – (Better known as Coast Line)- Colombo to Matara via Galle - extension of the track up to Hambantota and Kataragama is currently under construction.

• Northern Line – Colombo to Kankesanturai deviates from the Main Line at Polgahawela junction - presently operating only up to Vavuniya, track abandoned from Vavuniya (reconstruction begun in March 2009).
• Tricomalee Line from the Maho junction in the Northern Line to Trincomalee.
• Batticaloa Line separates from the Trincomalee Line at Gal-Oya junction and extends up to Batticaloa via Polonnaruwa.
• Mihintale Line from Anuradhapura to the sacred city of Mihintale.

• Puttalam Line – Colombo to Puttalam - deviates from the Main Line at Ragama.
• Industrial Line from Puttalam to Aruwakalu and Ilavankulama via Vanathavilluwa.

• Kelani Valley Railway Line (narrow gauge) - Colombo to Yatiyantota - presently operating only up to Avissawella, the track to beyond Avissawella was abandoned in 1940. Broad gauged up to Avissawella in 1997.
• Sabaragamuwa Line (Narrow Gauge) from Avissawella to Opanayaka via Ratnapura - Track abandoned in 1970.

• Uda Pussellawa Railway (narrow gauge) - Nanuoya to Ragala - Presently Not operated. this line removed in 1948.Sri lankas one of most scenic railway line.

• Mannar Line (Earlier Indo-Lanka Line) Colombo to Talaimannar - Divides from Northern Line at Medawachchiya junction - Not operational - track abandoned due to terrorist activities.

Locomotive Classification

Diesel locomotives of Sri Lanka Railway categorized in to several classes and their sub classes.

• Main Line Locomotives (Diesel Electric) - Class M
• Main Line Locomotives (Diesel Hydraulic) - Class W
• Suburban Push Pull Types - Class S
• Narrow Gauge - Class N & P
• Shunters - Class Y

• As of early 2008 Sri Lanka railways began negotiating with Porterbrook UK to update its fleet by obtaining some BR Class 143's

Famous Train Names

Number of long distance trains were named by CGR.

• Udarata Menike (Upcountry Maiden) - Runs between Colombo and Badulla
• Podi Menike (Little Maiden) - Connects Colombo and Badulla (no longer runs via Kandy, only through coaches to Kandy)
• Rajarata Rajina (Queen of the land of kings) - Runs between Vavuniya and Matara via Colombo (now only up to Medawachchiya)
• Yal Devi (Princess/Queen of Jaffna) - Was operated between Colombo and Kankasanthurei via Jaffna (now olny up to Medavatchiya)
• Udaya Devi (Princess/Queen of Rise -East) - Runs between Colombo and Batticaloa
• Senkadagala Menike (Maiden of “Senkadagala” – area name) - Runs between Colombo and Kandy
• Muthu Kumari (Princess of Perls) - Operates between Colombo and Puttalam
• Ruhunu Kumari (Princess of “Ruhuna” – southern province) - Between Colombo and Matara
• Samudra Devi (Queen of the Oceans) - Colombo to Galle
• Galu Kumari (Princess of Galle) - Colombo to Matara
• Mahawa Express (- Unofficial name -) - Colombo to Maho junction
• Tikiri Menike (Little Maiden) - Colombo to Hatton
• Sagarika (Name of Ocean in Sinhala Language) - Colombo to Galle

Major Accidents

• 18th of March 1964 - A train derails at high speed, killing over 60 people near Mirigama.
• 19th of January 1985 - LTTE bombed Yal Devi killing 11 civilians.
• 24th of July 1996 - LTTE blasted an office train, resulted 70 civilian deaths at Dehiwala.
• 19th of August 2001 - A train derails because of high speed and over crowded killed 13 at Alawwa.
• January 2002 - The Intercity Express was heading to Colombo from Kandy derails near Rambukkana causing more than 15 deaths. The accident was due to malfunctioning of the braking system.
• 13th of June 2002 – Train derails whilst coming into Alawwa station, killing 14 people.
• 26 December 2004 – Queen of the Sea train disaster, At Peraliya, approximately 2000 died in the world's worst rail disaster as a train is overwhelmed by a Tsunami created by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.
• 26th of April 2005 – Polgahawela level crossing collision, a private bus tries to beat another bus and the train at a level crossing near Polgahawela crashed. 37 of commuters died, all on the bus.

Other than these, a number of accidents have taken place. One major type is elephant accidents, mainly in North Central area. One another common type of accidents occur in un secure level crossings. There are only 527 secure level crossings in Sri Lanka out of 1684 crossings.

Gallery

Some of the types of locomotives used by the Sri Lanka Railway Department for transporting passengers and wares:

Class M2, GM EMD G12 - ALBERTA, Imported in 1954	Class M4 MLW - Alco Bombardier Locomotive	Hunslet Class Y shunting locomotive	Brush DE- Class M7 Locomotive
Karl Marx Class W2 Diesel-hydraulic Locomotive	Class S8 Hyundai DMU	Class M2 Diesel-electric Locomotive No.628 Kankesanthurai	Hitachi M5c engine
Class M6 locomotive	Chinese Diesel Electric Class S9 DMU

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (October 2008)

The noted Sri Lankan author Carl Muller's book Yakada Yaka has a character Gompala, the first Chief Mechanical Engineer who was a Sri Lankan. This character seems to be based on G.D Rampala, the Chief Mechanical Engineer who developed Sri Lankan Railways during 1965-1970.

See also

• Ceylon Railway Engineer Corps
• Rail transport in Sri Lanka
• Railway stations in Sri Lanka‎
• Transport in Sri Lanka

References & External links

• Sri Lanka Railways Official Site
• Ministry of Transport
• Sri Lanka Railways Timetables
• Sri Lanka Railway mainland routes timetables from "Seat61" (this is not updated)
• Model Railroad Club of Sri Lanka
• Locomotives of the SRI LANKA RAILWAY (M2, Jaffna Rail pictures)
• Sri Lankan Diesel Locomotives Page
• BRUSH BAGNALL SRI LANKA Restoration web site
• Sri Lanka Railways Forum (TimeTable, News, Books, Image Gallery, Etc...)
• Sri Lanka Railways Photo Collection
• Rampala Regime in the Local Railway History
• Two Unforgettable Railway Accidents
• First train on line to Badulla from Colombo