The Mannar line is a

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Branching off the

northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

at Medawachchiya Junction, the line heads north-west through North Central and

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

provinces before terminating at the town of

Talaimannar Talaimannar ( ta, தலைமன்னார்; si, තලෙයිමන්නාරම) is a settlement in Sri Lanka located on the northwestern coast of Mannar Island. Transport Sri Lanka's northern railway line was destroyed, disrupted ...

. The line is long and has 11

stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

. The line opened in 1914.

History

International goal

The Mannar line was built as part of a plan to create a rail link between Sri Lanka and India. A 22-mile bridge to link the two countries had been proposed as early as 1894, by the Consultant Engineer for railways in Madras (

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

). The proposal was given serious consideration and a technical blueprint and cost analysis was conducted. By 1914, the Mannar line was built to connect

Mannar Island Mannar Island ( ; ta, மன்னார் தீவு, Maṉṉār tīvu; si, මන්නාරම් දූපත, Mannāram dūpata), formerly spelt Manar Island, which lies off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka, is part of Mannar D ...

to the Sri Lankan mainland. On the Indian side, the Indian railway network was extended to

Dhanushkodi Dhanushkodi is an abandoned town at the south-eastern tip of Pamban Island of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is south-east of Pamban and is about west of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. The town was destroyed during the 1964 Rameswaram cyclo ...

. The international bridge to link the two was not built.http://infolanka.asia/sri-lanka/transport/the-indo-lanka-land-bridge-reviving-the-proposal The Indo-Lanka Land bridge: Reviving the Proposal

Operation

During the Mannar line's operation, trains connected Mannar and Talaimannar with cities along the

, such as

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

and

Kurunegala Kurunegala ( si, කුරුණෑගල, ta, குருணாகல்) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, fr ...

, eventually reaching

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

. The

Boat Mail The Rameswaram (Boat Mail) Express, previously known as Boat Mail or Indo-Ceylon Express, is an express train that connects Rameswaram with the state capital Chennai via Devakottai. During 1900's it was a combined train and steamer ferry ser ...

was a major service on the line, allowing passengers to board a ferry to

Rameshwaram Rameswaram (; also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 kilo ...

in India. Passengers could use the Boat Mail service to travel between Colombo and

. The ferry service to connect the railheads at Talaimannar and Dhanushkodi lasted until the 1960s, when a cyclone destroyed the pier and rail line at Dhanushkodi. The Mannar line was not affected. The ferry service resumed with a new Indian terminus at

War and revival

All services on the line were stopped in June 1990 due to the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. The tracks, stations and other infrastructure on the line were subsequently destroyed during the war. In the 2000s, the rail bridge to connect the two countries was proposed again, highlighting the benefits of connecting the ports of

and

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

with

. Following the end of the civil war in May 2009, the government initiated various projects to rebuild the entire line. The contract to reconstruct the line between Medawachchiya Junction and Madhu was awarded to

Ircon International Ircon International, or Indian Railway Construction Limited (IRCON), is an Indian engineering & construction corporation, specialized in transport infrastructure. The public sector undertaking was established in 1976, by the Indian Railways und ...

, the Indian state-owned engineering and construction company. The project will cost

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

81 million and would be financed by a

soft loan A soft loan is a loan with a below-market rate of interest. This is also known as ''soft financing''. Sometimes soft loans provide other concessions to borrowers, such as long repayment periods or interest holidays. Soft loans are usually provid ...

from the

Indian government The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the Government, national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy lo ...

. Ircon International has also been awarded the contract to reconstruct the line between Madhu and Talaimannar. The project will cost

150 million and would be financed by a soft loan from the Indian government. The section of the line between Medawachchiya and Madhu Road reopened on 14 May 2013, following its reconstruction. The reconstruction of the entire line was completed in 2015.

Completion and reopening

The entire line was completed up to Talaimannar on 2015. The Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON) carried out the construction work of both stages of the project which was financed under a US$425 million credit facility from India. The reconstructed railway line was commissioned by Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

on March 14, 2015. Opening was accompanied by Sri Lankan President

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena ( si, පල්ලෙවත්‍ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්‍රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; ta, பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரி� ...

and ministers

Lakshman Kiriella Lakshman Bandara Kiriella, MP (born 2 February 1948) is a Sri Lankan politician and lawyer. He is a Member of Parliament from the Kandy District, former Leader of the House of the parliament. Also he held office as Minister of Public Enterprise ...

and Rishard Badurdeen.

Services

Railbus A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar that shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies. Originally designed and developed ...

services operate from Medawachchiya Junction to Madhu Road, while daily trains operate between Madhu Road and

Colombo Fort Fort (Colombo) (; ) is the central business district of Colombo in Sri Lanka. It is the financial district of Colombo and the location of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the World Trade Centre of Colombo from which the CSE operates. It is ...

. Four train services are operating between Colombo Fort and the Talaimannr Pier daily.

Infrastructure

The Mannar line is entirely single track, at

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

, both before the war and after reconstruction. The line was not electrified and the current reconstruction project will not include electrification.

References

{{Rail transport in Sri Lanka 1914 establishments in Ceylon 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in Sri Lanka Railway lines in Sri Lanka Railway lines opened in 1914 Rail transport in Mannar District Rail transport in Vavuniya District Transport in North Central Province, Sri Lanka