The Puttalam line (originally called the North-Western Line) is a
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 ...
railway line in the
rail network of Sri Lanka. The railway line begins at
Ragama
Ragama ( si, රාගම ta, ரா௧ம) is a suburb of Colombo, located in the Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is governed by the Ja-Ela Pradeshiya Sabha.
History
In July 1874 a rail line, known as the Breakwater line, ...
junction and runs through the major towns along the north-west coast of the country, through to Periyanagavillu. It has forty two stations along its length.
Route definition
![SL Puttalam asv2020-01 img2 railway station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/SL_Puttalam_asv2020-01_img2_railway_station.jpg)
The line starts from
Ragama
Ragama ( si, රාගම ta, ரா௧ம) is a suburb of Colombo, located in the Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is governed by the Ja-Ela Pradeshiya Sabha.
History
In July 1874 a rail line, known as the Breakwater line, ...
and runs through the towns of
Kandana
Kandana ( si, කඳාන, ta, கந்தானை) is a suburb of Colombo in Western Province, Sri Lanka, north of the Colombo city centre. Due to the proximity to Colombo, Negombo as well as the Bandaranaike International Airport, the subur ...
,
Ja-Ela
Ja-Ela ( si, ජා-ඇල, ta, ஜா-எல) is a suburb of Colombo, located approximately north of the Colombo city centre. Ja-Ela lies on the A3 highway (Sri Lanka), A3 road which overlaps with the E03 expressway (Sri Lanka), Colombo – Ka ...
,
Seeduwa
Seeduwa (/sīðuvə/; Sinhalese language, Sinhalese: සීදුව ''Seeduwa'' pronounced īðuvə Tamil language, Tamil: சீதுவை ''Seeduwai'' pronounced ītuvai is a suburb of Negombo city, in Katana Divisional Secretaria ...
,
Katunayake
Katunayake ( si, කටුනායක, ta, கட்டுநாயகம்), is a suburb of Negombo city in Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is the site of Bandaranaike International Airport or Colombo Airport, the primary international air g ...
,
Negombo
Negombo (, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast and at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, in Western Province, from Colombo via Colombo - Katunayake Expressway.
Negombo is one of the major commercial hubs in the country and ...
City,
Lunuwila,
Naththandiya,
Madampe
Madampe is a town situated in the Puttalam District, of North Western Province, Sri Lanka.
Madampe is a town with historical importance which was ruled by king Thaniwallbha according to the history. There are two areas: Old town and New town w ...
,
Chilaw
Chilaw ( si, හලාවත, translit=Halāvata, ta, சிலாபம், translit=Cilāpam) is a large town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is governed by an urban council. The town is located 80 kilometres away f ...
,
Bangadeniya,
Mundel and ends at
Puttalam
Puttalam ( si, පුත්තලම, translit=Puttalama; ta, புத்தளம், translit=Puttaḷam) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam ...
.
The passenger trains by
Sri Lanka Railways
The Sri Lanka Railway Department (more commonly known as Sri Lanka Railways (SLR)) ( Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා දුම්රිය සේවය ''Śrī Laṃkā Dumriya Sēvaya''; Tamil: இலங்கை புகையிரத ...
are operated up to Noor Nagar station beyond the
Puttalam station and railway section beyond Noor Nagar station is used by
Holcim
Holcim is a Swiss-based global building materials and aggregates flagship division of the Holcim Group. The original company was merged on 10 July 2015 with Lafarge to form LafargeHolcim as the new company and renamed to Holcim Group in 2021 ...
Sri Lanka Limited for the transportation of raw materials from quarry to the factory at Puttalam.
This line is also used for the transportation of oil by trains to the
Colombo International Airport
Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) ( si, බණ්ඩාරනායක ජාත්යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, translit=Bandāranāyaka Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa; ta, பண்டாரநாயக்க ...
.
History
Construction of the rail line to
Puttalam
Puttalam ( si, පුත්තලම, translit=Puttalama; ta, புத்தளம், translit=Puttaḷam) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam ...
commenced on 3 July 1907, with the laying of a railway line from
Ragama
Ragama ( si, රාගම ta, ரா௧ம) is a suburb of Colombo, located in the Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is governed by the Ja-Ela Pradeshiya Sabha.
History
In July 1874 a rail line, known as the Breakwater line, ...
to
Ja-Ela
Ja-Ela ( si, ජා-ඇල, ta, ஜா-எல) is a suburb of Colombo, located approximately north of the Colombo city centre. Ja-Ela lies on the A3 highway (Sri Lanka), A3 road which overlaps with the E03 expressway (Sri Lanka), Colombo – Ka ...
. The project was initiated by Sir
Henry Arthur Blake
Sir Henry Arthur Blake (; 8January 184023February 1918) was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British colonial administrator and Governor of Hong Kong from 1898 to 1903.
Early life, family and career
Blake was born in Limerick, Ir ...
,
Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019
The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers:
Portuguese Ceylon
* List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551)
* List of Captain-majors of Portuguese ...
. The first passenger operations commenced on 9 November 1908. The Negombo railway station was opened on 1 December 1909, with the line extended to
Chilaw
Chilaw ( si, හලාවත, translit=Halāvata, ta, சிலாபம், translit=Cilāpam) is a large town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is governed by an urban council. The town is located 80 kilometres away f ...
in 1916.
In November 1920 work commenced on the extension to Puttalam, which was officially opened on 12 May 1926.
In 1943 the track from
Bangadeniya to Puttalam was removed, as the rails were required on other strategically important routes due to shortages caused by
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was re-laid in 1946 with a number of new stations added to the line. The line was also extended beyond Puttalam to Periyanagavillu, where the route forked, with one line running to
Aruwakkalu and the other to
Illuwankulam.
In 2011 a dual track between Ragama and Ja-Ela was officially opened. In 2017 the government commenced investigating the feasibility of extending the rail line from Puttalam via
Norocholai power station (servicing the country's main coal power plant) to
Mahawa
Mahawa (also known as Maho) ( si, මහව) is a town in the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. It is located in the Kurunegala District. Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Christians live in this town. The town is situated north-west of the Ya ...
, connecting the
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 ...
and Puttalam lines.
Operations
This line is served by passenger and freight trains mostly class s9, s8 , s11 and s10 are used for daytime passenger trains whilst office trains are hauled by class s11, s13 , m4 and s9 . The main terminals of the trains are Negombo, Madampe, Chilaw, Puttalam and Noornagar. An uncontrollable crowd is seen during the peak hours ( Mainly from Colombo To Negombo )
References
{{Rail transport in Sri Lanka
Railway lines in Sri Lanka
Transport in Western Province, Sri Lanka
5 ft 6 in gauge railways in Sri Lanka