The Kelani Valley railway line in

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 ...

, covering the breadth of Colombo District. The line is owned, maintained, and operated 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 ...

Route definition and overview

The Kelani Valley line runs southeast from Colombo Maradana Station, through much of the city of Colombo. It runs through major business centres, like Nugegoda and Maharagama, before turning eastwards. It crosses the Southern Expressway near Homagama and continues east towards Avissawella, the current terminus of the line. The line serves an increasingly urbanising community. Major railway stations on the line are

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 ...

Maradana Maradana is a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Maradana is the site of Maradana Railway Station, one of the primary railway hubs in the country, serving intercity rail and commuter rail. Maradana also has many railway yards and running sheds. A t ...

Narahenpita Narahenpita is a municipal ward of Colombo. Located at the South-Eastern corner and served by the Kelani Valley Railway Line, many government institutions including the National Blood Bank, the Survey Department Survey may refer to: Statistic ...

Nugegoda Nugegoda ( si, නුගේගොඩ) is a large, densely populated suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is located in the border of Sri Jayawardenapura Municipal Council limits and Dehiwela Mt. Lavinia Municipal Council limits, just outside Colombo ...

Maharagama Maharagama is an outer suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka on the High-Level (A4) Road about from the centre of the commercial capital. It developed rapidly in the 1980s as a dormitory suburb. Governed by the Maharagama Urban Council, the town possess ...

Pannipitiya Pannipitiya ( si, පන්නිපිටිය, ta, பன்னிபிட்டிய) is a suburb of Colombo. It is an area in Colombo District, Sri Lanka and is located about from the commercial capital. Pannipitiya is subdivided into ...

Kottawa Kottawa ( si, කොට්ටාව, ta, கொட்டாவை) is one of the main suburbs in Colombo, Sri Lanka and is administered by the Maharagama Urban Council. It is located from the centre of Colombo. History The name Kottawa is de ...

Homagama Homagama is a town in the Colombo District, Sri Lanka, about south-east of Colombo. The Homagama Pradeshiya Sabha consists of the Homagama Divisional Secretariats of Sri Lanka, divisional secretariat and 10 GN division of Padukka DS division. The ...

, Meegoda,

Padukka Padukka ( si, පාදුක්ක, ta, படுகா) is a town in the district of Colombo in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. It has a population of roughly 8,000. Elevation 44feet. Padukka, which is part of the Avissawella electorate i ...

Waga Waga ( si, වග, ta, வாகா) is an area or a cluster of villages in Colombo District, Sri Lanka. Administrated by Seethawaka Pradeshiya Sabha (Divisional Council). It is within the Seethawaka Divisional Secretariat Division. Waga is sai ...

, Kosgama, and

Avissawella Avissawella, ( si, අවිස්සාවේල්ල, ta, அவிசாவளை) is a township in Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council, situated on the A4 route from Colombo to Ratnapura, Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka ...

History

Narrow-gauge era

The Kelani Valley line was originally built 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 me ...

to Yatiyanthota via

during 1900–1902. It was branched off at Avissawella and extended up to Opanayaka via

Ratnapura Ratnapura (; ) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. It is located o ...

(completed in 1912). Originally built as a

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

line to serve the

rubber plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s in the area, the railway line between Avissawella and Yatiyanthota was removed in 1942, the line from

to Opanayaka abandoned in 1973. The services were restarted up to Avissawella in 1978.

Gauge conversion

In 1992, a project was started to

convert Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

the line to . The project was finally completed up to Avissawella () in 1996. The tracks beyond were completely dismantled leaving only ruined stations, bridges, and bunds.

Infrastructure

The Kelani Valley line is entirely single track, at . As train frequency increases, it is becoming increasingly challenging to operate trains running both direction on the single-line track. Currently the line serves an increasingly urbanizing population leading up to Avissawella. The Kelani Valley line is not electrified. All services run on diesel power. Current operating speeds are limited due to the sharp curves on the line.

Locomotives and rolling stock

During the narrow-gauge era, the line had its own fleet of narrow-gauge locomotives and rolling stock. The steam locomotives of Class K and Sentinel railcars class V1 and V2 were also used. Currently, the line is operated with broad-gauged S8 diesel multiple units.

Operation

has a monopoly on the operation of Kelani Valley line. As of January, 2016, there were 20 trains operating on the line daily, mainly catering to rush hour commuters traveling to and from Colombo. In addition to this, Sri Lanka Railways introduced a rail bus service to cater commuters traveling between Kosgama and

during daytime.

References

Kelani Valley railway line in Google Earth

Kelani Valley railway line in Google Maps

{{Rail transport in Sri Lanka Railway lines opened in 1912 Railway lines closed in 1973 Railway lines opened in 1978 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in Sri Lanka Railway lines in Sri Lanka Transport in Western Province, Sri Lanka 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in Sri Lanka 1912 establishments in Ceylon