Sri Lanka Government Railway

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CGR Logo.
CGR Logo.

Sri Lankan Government Railway (former CGR – Ceylon Government Railway) is a key department of Sri Lankan Government under Ministry of Transportation with a great history begins 1858. Sri Lankan Government Railway operates five main routes which linking Colombo - the commercial capital of Sri Lanka - and many locations including very remote areas.

Though the British established the railway system, the golden era of Sri Lankan Railway System was during 1955 – 1970 under the management of Mr. B.D. Rampala, the most respected chief mechanical engineer and late General Manager of CGR.

Present Sri Lankan Railway network consists of 1508 kilometers with broad gauge (5 feet 6 inches). The railway contains some of the magnificent scenic rail routes in the world. Particularly the Main Line winding through both natural beauties such as waterfalls, natural forest mountains, misty peaks and precipices, as well as man made festoons such as tea estates, pine forests and sensation engineering stuffs including bridges and peak level stations.

Contents

[edit] History

The Railway Network was introduced by British in 1864. The main aspect of having a railway system in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) was transportion of Tea and Coffee from hill country to Colombo. Initially the service began with the Main Line of 54 kilometers connecting Colombo and Ambepussa.

Extensions were made to Main Line in 1867, 1874, 1885, 1894 and 1924, extending its service to Kandy, Nawalapitiya, Nanu Oya, Bandarawela and Badulla, respectively. Many other railway lines added to Ceylon Railway System within first century of its life, such as a line to Matale in 1880, Coast Railway Line in 1895, Northern Line in 1905, Mannar Line in 1914, Kelani Valley in 1919, Puttalam Line in 1926, and Railway Line to Batticaloa and Trincomalee in 1928. Thereafter, no any extends were added to the Sri lankan (Ceylon) Railway Routes as the British left the country for native rule.

Class M6 loco haul Udarata Menike Train from Badulla to Colombo
Class M6 loco haul Udarata Menike Train from Badulla to Colombo

Till 1953, Sri Lankan Railway served with steam locomotives and enhanced its service to more power with diesel locomotives. Various types of diesel locos were added to the service.

[edit] Railway Routes

[edit] Locomotive Classification

Diesel locomotives of Sri Lanka Railway categorized in to several classes and their sub classes.

  • Main Line Locomotives (Diesel Electric) - Class M
  • Main Line Locomotives (Diesel Hydraulic) - Class W
  • Suburban DMU's - Class S
  • Narrow Gauge - Class N & P
  • Shunters - Class Y
  • As of early 2008 Sri Lanka railways began negotiating with Porterbrook UK to update it's fleet by obtaining some BR Class 143's

[edit] Famous Train Names

Number of long distance trains were named by CGR.

  • Udarata Menike (Upcountry Maiden) - Runs between Colombo and Badulla
  • Podi Menike (Little Maiden) - Connects Colombo and Badulla via Kandy
  • Rajarata Rajina (Queen of North Central) - Runs between Vavuniya and Mathara
  • Yal Devi (Princess/Queen of Jaffna) - Was operated between Colombo and Jaffna
  • Senkadagala Menike (Maiden of “Senkadagala” – area name) - Runs between Colombo and Mathale via Kandy
  • Muthu Kumari (Princess of Perl) - Operates between Colombo and Puttalam
  • Ruhunu Kumari (Princess of “Ruhuna” – southern province) - Between Colombo and Mathara
  • Samudra Devi (Princess/Queen of Ocean) - Colombo to Galle
  • Galu Kumari (Princess of Galle) - Colombo to Galle
  • Mahawa (- Unofficial name -) - Colombo to Maho junction

[edit] Major Accidents

  • 18th of March 1964 - A train derails at high speed, killing over 60 people near Mirigama.
  • 19th of January 1985 - LTTE Terrorists bombed Yal Devi killing 11 civilians.
  • 24th of July 1996 - LTTE Terrorists blasted an office train, resulted 56 civilian deaths at Dehiwala.
  • 19th of August 2001 - A train derails because of high speed and over crowded killed 13 at Kurunegala.
  • January 2002 - The Intercity Express was heading to Colombo from Kandy derails near Rambukkana causing more than 15 deaths. The accident was take a place due to malfunctioning of the braking system.
  • 13th of June 2002 – Train derails whilst coming into Alawwa station, killing 14 people.
  • 26th December 2004 – Queen of the Sea train disaster, At Telwatta, approximately 2000 died in the world's worst rail disaster as a train is overwhelmed by a Tsunami created by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.
  • 26th of April 2005 – Polgahawela level crossing collision, a private bus tries to beat another bus and the train at a level crossing near Polgahawela crashed. 37 of commuters died, all on the bus.

Other than these, number of accidents take place. One major type is elephant accidents, mainly in North Central area. One another common type of accidents occur in un secure level crossings. There are only 527 secure level crossings in Sri Lanka out of 1684 crossings.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links