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The ''Viceroy Special'' is a special
passenger train
A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...
service operated by Lakindu & Thathsara (Ceylon) Ltd. Powered by the sole steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
kept in operation in Sri Lanka, it is operated as a private train on all railway lines in the island. The 75-year-old luxury train has two air-conditioned observation saloons and a restaurant car.
History
The launch of the ''Viceroy Special'' was spearheaded byHemasiri Fernando
Hemasiri Fernando (born 12 October 1949) is the former permanent secretary to the Ministry of Defence and chief of staff of the president, chairman Board of Investment of Sri Lanka.
Early childhood
Hemasiri was educated at Nalanda College, Co ...
and Cliff Jones.
The idea of re-introducing steam to Sri Lanka rails was inspired by a tourism promotional visit to Sri Lanka in 1984 by Cliff Jones who, returning from a day trip to Kandy, called at Dematagoda loco sheds and saw, what he later described a graveyard of 'veritable massive tourism potential' and put the proposition to the then Minister of State Ananda de Tissa de Alweis who was wildly enthusiastic and with the tremendous help of GMR Manager and Hemasiri Fernando it came to fruition 2 years later.
During the Second World War, Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India and Supreme Commander of All Forces in the South East Asian Command (SEAC) used a special train called the ''SEAC Special'' to travel to and from his headquarters in Kandy, Sri Lanka. This train was the inspiration for the ''Viceroy Special''.
The ''Viceroy Special'' has been running for over 25 years.
Features
The ''Viceroy Special'' acts as aheritage
Heritage may refer to:
History and society
* A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today
** Cultural heritage is created by humans
** Natural heritage is not
* Heritage language
Biology
* Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...
service. Passenger carriages on the train are fitted with nineteenth-century period fittings and include a restaurant car, an observation car and a bar. It also has some modern features like air-conditioning.
It is run by the only steam locomotive still in operation in Sri Lanka.
Charters
Rolling stock
Currently three steam locomotives run the ''Viceroy Special'' service. * Class B1a No. 251 "Sir Thomas Maitland" * Class B1d No. 340 "Frederick North" * Class B2b No. 213See also
* List of named passenger trains of Sri Lanka *Hemasiri Fernando
Hemasiri Fernando (born 12 October 1949) is the former permanent secretary to the Ministry of Defence and chief of staff of the president, chairman Board of Investment of Sri Lanka.
Early childhood
Hemasiri was educated at Nalanda College, Co ...
* The Viceroy Special
* වයිස්රෝයි ස්පෙෂල්
References
{{Rail transport in Sri Lanka, style = "background:Crimson; color:White" Named passenger trains of Sri Lanka Railway services introduced in 1986