Demodara railway station is the 76th and third last
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
on the
Main Line, and is away from
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 m ...
. It is located above mean sea level and from
Badulla
Badulla ( si, බදුල්ල, ta, பதுளை) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the lower central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District.
Geography
Badulla is ...
, the capital city of
Uva Province
Uva Province ( si, ඌව පළාත, Uva Paḷāta, ta, ஊவா மாகாணம், Uvā Mākāṇam) is Sri Lanka's second least populated province, with 1,259,880 people, created in 1896. It consists of two districts: Badulla and M ...
. All the trains that run on the Main Line, including the
Podi Menike and
Udarata Menike express trains stop at the station.
The station is most notable for its
spiral rail line at this location, popularly known as the 'Demodara Loop'. The rail line passes under itself, going around the loop and emerging from a tunnel, which runs directly beneath the Demodara railway station. The rail loop is approximately long and the tunnel is in length. It is considered the only loop in the world with a railway station situated exactly over a tunnel at spiral loop.
During the construction of the rail extension to Badulla the engineers and surveyors found that elevation between the hills at Demodara was too much for the track to negotiate, with the maximum inclination allowed by the
Ceylon Government Railway being one foot per 44 feet (1/44), an innovative track design had to be devised. Local folklore has it that one of the engineers,
Devapura Jayasena Wimalasurendra
Devapura Jayasena Wimalasurendra (17 September 1874 – 10 August 1953) was a Sri Lankan engineer and statesman. He played a prominent role in the establishment of hydropower in Sri Lanka and is known as the "Father of Hydropower" and was a memb ...
, was inspired after observing a Kankany (supervisor) in a local tea estate undo his Talappawa (
turban
A turban (from Persian دولبند, ''dulband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Communities with promin ...
) and re-tie it around his head.
Continuity
See also
*
Nine Arch Bridge, Demodara
References
Railway stations in Badulla District
Railway stations on the Main Line (Sri Lanka)
Railway stations opened in 1923
1923 establishments in Ceylon
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