The Puttalam line (originally called the North-Western Line) is a
broad gauge 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
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 subu ...
,
Ja-Ela,
Seeduwa,
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 an ...
City,
Lunuwila,
Naththandiya,
Madampe,
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 Di ...
.
The passenger trains by
Sri Lanka Railways 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 202 ...
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 Di ...
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. The project was initiated by Sir
Henry Arthur Blake
Sir Henry Arthur Blake (; 8January 184023February 1918) was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Hong Kong from 1898 to 1903.
Early life, family and career
Blake was born in Limerick, Ireland. He was the son of Peter Blake of Cor ...
,
Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019
The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonialism, colonial powers:
Portuguese Ceylon
* List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551)
* List of Captain-majors of ...
. 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 opposing ...
. 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, connecting the
Northern 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