There are rides all around the world, but the train rides in Sri Lanka are something else. With the different geological features spread around the country, train tracks lie in wonderful locations so traveling via train is super exciting.
The Sri Lankan railway line is a network of 9 railway tracks.
- Coastal Railway Line ( Colombo Fort to Mathra, work in progress to extend upto katharagama)
- Kalani Velley Railway Line( Colombo Fort to Avissavella)
- Main Railway Line ( Colombo fort to Jaffna)
- Upcountry Railway Line (Colombo fort to Badulla )
- Puttalam Railway Line ( Colombo Fort to Puttalam)
- Mathale Railway Line ( Peradaniya Junction to Mathale)
- Batticalo Railway Line ( Maho to Batticola)
- Trinco Railway Line (Galoya Junction to Trincomalee )
- Mannar Line (Medawachchiya to Mannar)
Each railway line has its own beautiful sightseeing. Travelers can travel as per their choices of destinations they choose to ride by train. The best ever experience is to have a train ride from Colombo to Badulla by the coastal railway line. Let’s have a look at some of the must-go train rides in Sri Lanka.
Badulla night mail
Colombo Railway Station to Badulla Railway Station distance is 292.4 km. On the way from Colombo Fort Railway Station to Badulla Railway Station, you can see the beauty of Colombo City and the railway line that runs along with the urban beauty of Sri Lanka.
Traveling from Colombo to Badulla by train is easy because of the efficient rail connectivity. Many trains run between Colombo Fort Railway Station to Badulla Railway Station daily, and there are operated 28 weekly trains from Colombo Fort to Badulla.
From Colombo railway station to Badulla railway station, the train time duration is between 9 hours to 9 hours 30 minutes. Due to delays in train signals between stations, that time may increase when trains are delayed. But in most cases, the Colombo to Badulla train runs on time. (except during office hours).
Best coastal rail trip
Start – Colombo Fort; End – Galle
The Indian Ocean washes almost up to the rail tracks on the ride south from Colombo to the Portuguese-founded city of Galle, bringing fresh breezes and the smell of sea salt right into the carriages. So long as you sit on the right-hand side of the train, you’ll have views of the ocean as the train clatters out of Colombo.
The rail line meets the shore just south of Galle Face Green, a large urban park in the capital, and follows it for almost the entire length of the journey. If the lure of the big blue gets too much, passengers can hop off the train at beachside towns including Moragalla (via Hettimulla station), with snorkeling opportunities amid coral reefs, or Hikkaduwa, where surfers ride the swells and sip smoothies in shorefront cafes.
Whether you choose to temporarily alight or not, make sure you sample the wares of vendors who join the carriages at tiny rural stations. Grab some buttered sweetcorn or packaged curry and rice and take in the bucolic scenes of coastal life, from children and dogs splashing in the surf to stilt fishermen sitting atop their wooden perch, all the way to Galle.
In places, the tracks almost run parallel with the shore, so sit on the right-hand side for the best views of these unending seascapes, beachside towns, and gaggles of wave-chasing surfers. As each minute passes, you’ll feel the stress of city life melting away.
Colombo to Kandy (Approx. 80 miles/125km)
The one rail journey that features on almost every Sri Lankan itinerary, the three-hour trip from Colombo to Kandy will whisk you away from the big-city sprawl to the genteel greenery of Sri Lanka’s spiritual capital. Some of the services on this line continue onto Badulla (see below), although it’s worth breaking the journey and exploring Kandy, home to the legendary Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, enshrining what’s claimed to be a genuine tooth of Buddha.
On the way there, you’ll rattle past rolling hills, paddy fields, lush stands of tropical forest, palm trees waving like giant hands and miniature village train stations with tin roofs and station attendants standing at attention in immaculate uniforms. You’ll also feel the air cool as you leave the baking coastal plain for the more pleasant climate of the hills.
The Colombo-to-Kandy line was the first major route established by the newly formed Ceylon Government Railway in the 1860s, slicing through the forested hills inland from the capital to bring tea and coffee down to the coast to further the economic ambitions of the British Empire. Today, travelers ride in the opposite direction, on a journey that offers by far the most atmospheric and enjoyable way to reach the Hill Country from Colombo.
Anuradhapura to Jaffna trip
This train ride starts from Anuradhapura and ends in Jaffna taking approximately a distance of 195 km.
Anuradhapura, the sacred city in the North-central part of the country is well known for its historical value, especially for Buddhists. Jaffna the northern end of the country is the heart of Tamil people and it is considered the center of the Hindu religion. The two cities have an outstanding connection between those two religions that it signifies harmony among the people.
UNESCO-listed Anuradhapura is Sri Lanka’s ancient capital, characterized by giant stupas and temples, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The route from there to Jaffna, in the lesser-visited Hindu north of the island, was severed during Sri Lanka’s 26-year-long civil war. Rail travel came to a standstill, with this route only reopening in 2014. Travelers embarking on the 3.5-hour-long journey today will see flatter landscapes, salt pans and rattle through the Elephant Pass that controls entry to the Jaffna peninsula. The north boasts far fewer visitors and some of Sri Lanka’s best-unspoiled beaches, making it a worthy escape.
In 2014, the shrill whistle of locomotives returned as the Yal Devi Express rumbled back into Jaffna, on gleaming new tracks, for the first time in a generation. Today, the three-and-a-half-hour ride from the ancient Buddhist city at Anuradhapura to Jaffna offers a window onto a different Sri Lanka.
Tall Palmyra palms rise over a landscape that still bears the scars of war but also green shoots of rejuvenation, as villages and townships pick themselves up after decades of conflict. Waiting near the line end is Jaffna itself, a vibrant Hindu city with a colonial heart – an easy leaping-off point for some of Sri Lanka’s most idyllic, unspoiled islands and beaches.
Nuwara Eliya to Ella – Distance: 55km
If the above seems like too long to spend on a train, you can abbreviate it by just doing part of the route. The three-to-four-hour section that snakes its way out of Nanu Oya Station, on the outskirts of Nuwara Eliya (Central Province), to the backpacker town of Ella (Uva Province) is magical.
By road, it would only take 90 minutes, but this route crosses steep mountain ranges, hence the extended travel time. It is home to the epic Ella Gap panorama, so snag a seat on the left-hand side for the best views and watch tiers of tea terraces – Nuwara Eliya sits at the heart of Sri Lanka’s tea production region – and ethereal cloud forests spool past.
