Sri Lanka Railways

Passenger train with diesel-electric locomotive of the M6 series in Ella

Sri Lanka Railways is the national railway company of Sri Lanka .

The state-owned Sri Lanka Railway Department operates the Sri Lanka Railways (SLR) as the main user of the rail network in Sri Lanka. The SLR is subordinate to the Ministry of Transport , i. H. it is a public company . In 2009 102 million passengers were carried.

history

The Udarata Menike on the Colombo - Badulla route (2009)

The railway company emerged from the Ceylon Government Railway , founded in 1858 , which was built by the British colonial rulers from 1864 to transport the products from the colonial plantations in the highlands of Sri Lanka to the port of Colombo. The first route with a length of 54 kilometers led (from December 27, 1864) to Ambepussa . In August 1867 the passenger service from Colombo to Kandy was opened, in September 1867 the freight service. In the 1980s, the name was changed to Sri Lanka Railways . In 2013 - for the first time since Sri Lanka's independence - construction began on an extension of the route, and the first section would open on April 9, 2019. It was the 26.8 km long line from Matara to Beliatha, which forms the first of three sections of a 114 km long new railway line from Matara to Kataragama.

Rail network

Rail network in Sri Lanka

Colombo Fort Railway Station (2013)

S11 power car of the Deyata Kirula Intercity Express in Kurunegala (2012)

The national rail network connects Colombo with the settlements and tourist destinations of today's island state of Sri Lanka . The network of the Sri Lanka Railways covers 1,447 kilometers, it is mainly designed as a broad-gauge railway according to Indian standards . The rail network is looked after by around 14,000 employees.

	line	Names of the passenger trains
Main line	Colombo Fort station to Nawalapitiya ( Kandy district ), Nanu Oya and Badulla (length: 241 km, 78 stations)	Udarata Menike, Podi Menike, Tikiri Menike, Senkadagala Menike
Matale Line	Peradeniya to Kandy and Matale	Senkadagala Menike
Northern Line	Polgahawela to Kurunegala , Anuradhapura , Jaffna and Kankesanturai	Vavuniya , Yal Devi, Rajarata Rajina
Mannar Line	Medawachchi after Mannar and Talaimannar
Batticaloa Line	Colombo Fort Railway Station - Mahawa Junction to Polonnaruwa and Batticaloa	Udaya Devi, Meena Gaya
Trincomalee Line	Gal Oya to Trincomalee
Coastal Line	Colombo Fort train station to Galle and Matara	Ruhunu Kumar, Samudra Devi, Galu Kumari, Sagarika, Rajarata Rajina
Kelani Valley Line	Colombo Maradana to Avissawella (23 stations)
Puttalam Line	Ragama ( Gampaha district ) to Puttalam (120 km, 44 stations)	Muthu Kumari, Bangadeniya

The central railway station for rail transport in Sri Lanka is the Colombo Fort station , located between the port of Colombo and Beira Lake in the economic capital in the west of the island state . Although it is a through station, most rail connections end there. It is also important for local public transport in the greater Colombo area. In addition to 172 larger train stations, there are a further 161 smaller stations in the route network.

Expansion plans

In 2012, the planning of a 114 km long, single-track extension of the Coastal Line from Matara to Kataragama began. Construction began in 2013 and the first section (26.8 km) from Matara to Beliatha with three new stations and two stops was inaugurated on April 9, 2019. Seven pairs of trains run on the new section every day. The second section (48 km) should lead to Hambantota , and the third (39 km) from Hambantota to Kataragama.