Kelani Valley Line

Kelani Valley Line
Class S8 DMUs do most of runs on the Kelani Valley Line
Overview
Type	Regional rail
System	Sri Lanka Railways
Status	Operational
Locale	Sri Lanka
Termini	Colombo Fort Avissawella
Stations	25
Operation
Opening	1902 (as narrow gauge)
Reopened	1996 (as broad gauge)
Operator(s)	Sri Lanka Railways
Depot(s)	Maradana
Technical
No. of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)
Old gauge	2 ft 6 in (762 mm), Dual Gauge 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) and 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)
Route map [ v t e ] Kelani Valley Line Legend Opanayaka Katawatta Watapota Dela Thiruwanaketiya Ratnapura Kuruwaita Parakaduwa Ehaliyagoda Getaheththa Yatiyanthota Avissawella Puwakpitiya Kosgama Kadugoda Waga Morakele Gammana Pinnawala Uggalla Angampitiya Arukwathupura Padukka Watareka Meegoda Godagama Panagoda Homagama Homagama Hospital Malapalla Kottawa Pannipitiya Maharagama Nawinna Udahamulla Pengiriwatte Nugegoda Kirillapone Narahenpita Cotta Road Baseline Road Main Line Maradana To Colombo

The Kelani Valley Railway Line, in Sri Lanka, covering the breadth of Colombo District and some parts of Kegalla and Ratnapura Districts. The line is owned, maintained, and operated by Sri Lanka Railways.

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, Maradana, Narahenpita, Nugegoda, Maharagama, Pannipitiya, Kottawa, Homagama, Meegoda, Padukka, Waga, Kosgama, and Avissawella.

History

Narrow gauge era

An exhibit of narrow gauge line.

The Kelani Valley Line was originally built from Colombo to Yatiyanthota via Avissawella during 1900 - 1902. It was branched off at Avissawella and extended up to Opanayaka via Ratnapura (completed in 1912). Originally built as a narrow gauge line 762 mm (2 ft 6 in)^[1] to serve the rubber plantations in the area, the railway line between Avissawella and Yatiyanthota was removed in 1942, the line from Homagama to Opanayaka abandoned in 1973.

The services were restarted up to Avissawella in 1978.

Gauge conversion

In 1992, a project was started to convert the line to broad gauge. The project was finally completed up to Avissawella (58 km or 36 mi) in 1996. The tracks beyond were completely abandoned and currently the tracks from Avissawella to Yatiyanthota and Opanayaka can only be traced by the leftover and ruined stations, bridges and bunds.

Infrastructure

The Kelani Valley Line is entirely single track, at 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge.^[2] 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. Even though the line was broad gauged to improve the services in capacity and speed, the objectives have not been achieved due to sharp curves (a leftover of the narrow gauge system) and the illegal constructions on either sides of the track from Colombo up to Maharagama.

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

A Class P1 locomotive in Deyata Kirula exhibition

New S12 DMUs were introduced in 2012

During the narrow-gauge era, the line had its own fleet of narrow gauge locomotives and rolling stock.

Currently, the line is operated with broad-gauged diesel multiple units.

Operation

Sri Lanka Railways has a monopoly on the operation of Kelani Valley Line.

As of January 1, 2009, there were 16 trains operating on the line daily, mainly catering for the rush hour commuters traveling to and from Colombo.

See also

• Rail transport in Sri Lanka
• Railway stations in Sri Lanka
• Diesel locomotives of Sri Lanka

References

• Kelani Valley Railway Line in Google Earth
• Kelani Valley Railway Line in Google Maps

v t e Rail transport in Sri Lanka By Province Central Province Eastern Province North Central Province Northern Province North Western Province Sabaragamuwa Southern Province Uva Western Province Railway lines Batticaloa Line Coastal Line Kelani Valley Line Main Line Mannar Line Matale Line Mihintale Line Northern Line Puttalam Line Trincomalee Line Stations List of railway stations Railway stations by province List of railway stations by line Trains Locomotives Named passenger trains Boat mail Operators/service providers Sri Lanka Railways ExpoRail Rajadhani Express Viceroy Special History Railway accidents in Sri Lanka Bandarawela Hotel