Day 1

Day 01 - Fort Railway - Badulla

SCHEDULE

• Meet and greet your Tour Leader at the Fort Railway Station at 5:00 am.

• Board the train and get yourself comfortable before the train leaves the station at 5.55am.

• Reach Badulla station around 4.30pm.

• Transfer to a hotel.

• An optional visit to the Ancient Temple of Muthiyangana in the evening.

• Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Badulla (HB).

Your journey from Colombo to Badulla starts from Fort Railway Station early in the morning. This railway track runs for 290 kilometers with 81 stops at railway stations. Just about 1 km away from Fort Station, you will see on the left side a small, over 140-year-old dilapidated building that is the original Colombo Fort Station - the very first railway station of the country. Soon after you will enter the large inland marshlands of Muthurajawela, famous for its exceptional birdlife.

About 50 km from Colombo, you will enter the picture-perfect mountain sceneries covered with lush forests. And here, between Wilwatta and Botale railway stations, the first of the 44 tunnels rise up from the track.

Then, from Rambukkana, the train will start the first climb - 1500 ft in less than 13 miles! This section starts with two tunnels and views of the large rock capped mountain called Alagalla. Before the tunnels, you will see also the Uthuwamkanda mountain, the hideout of the famous Saradiel, known as the Robin Hood of Sri Lanka.

Enjoy the beautiful views of the lowcountry. On the left side of the track, a large rock with a flat 10-acre summit. Due to its shape, this mountain is known as the “Bible Rock”. Then, hold tight! You will now traverse the most perilous section of the line cut around a rock with a steep slope. During the constructions, many workers died and injured in these breathtaking sceneries due to the extremely dangerous working conditions.

Soon after, you will go through Balana Pass, that gave access to the Kandyan Kingdom. Here, the entry point is so narrow that the station is situated below the railway line. Few kilometers ahead, you will enter the Balana – Kadugannawa tunnel that is the second longest tunnel along the journey. In Kadugannawa, you will see also a white tower built in memory of Capt. Dawson who directed the construction of this treacherous section of the Colombo-Kandy Road 30 years before the railway was built.

For the next few hours, your journey will continue through the most beautiful parts of the Sri Lankan Hill-Country. At several points, you will get a view of the majestic Sri Pada mountain, known as Adam’s Peak.

After Hatton, you will enter the Poolbank Tunnel. This 562-meter-long tunnel that is the longest tunnel along the train line, and it curves in the middle so that one end of the tunnel cannot be seen from the other end. As you emerge out of this tunnel, you will notice a sudden change in the surrounding environment. Large mountains are replaced by small hillocks, all covered with tea. You have entered the area of the best tea in the country - perhaps in the world.

Along the railway, Nanu Oya is the closest point to Nuwara Eliya, the heart of Sri Lanka’s Tea Country, that was named ‘Little England’ by the British.

Before reaching Ambewela, you will have the last astounding view of the Sri Pada. From here onward, the sceneries start changing drastically. Tea plantations give way to vegetable plots and then dense forests of Strict Nature Reserve. Located right after the forest area at an altitude of 6125 ft, Pattipola is the highest point of the railway line. The station is just a stone’s throw away from the Horton Plains National Park that boasts some of Sri Lanka’s most impressive trekking trails. Here, you will find also the Pattipola-Ohiya tunnel that leads you from Nuwara Eliya District to Uva Province.

And a lot more tunnels coming in Idalgashinna! In no more than 5 kilometers, there are 13 tunnels. This section, known as the ‘Lizard’s Spine’, offers breathtaking views. On one side, beyond the vast Welimada Valley, you will see the summits of the Hill-Country,  and on the other side the view opens out all the way to the coast.

In Ella, the track will go over an arch bridge several hundred feet long, built not to cross a river but to connect two mountains. Built with blocks of stone and cement without any concrete or reinforcing iron, the 85-year-old bridge has nine arches, some of them as high as 90ft, and it was dubbed by the British as the ‘Bridge of Nine Skies’.

After Ella, you will pass Demodara station that has a unique feature - a loop in the rail track. Right after the station, the track makes a circle around a hill, comes back to the station and goes through a tunnel beneath it.

By the time of the twilight, you will disembark at Badulla.

 

More about the railway system and stations

From Colombo to Rambukkana, the colour light system is used for the trains to take off. From Rambukkana onward, the train track becomes a single line and a Tablet System introduced by the British is still in use.

This particular system prevents two trains running from opposite directions and averts collisions.  The engine driver has a tablet received at the first station, and he hands it over at the next station to indicate that he had the authority to pass the previous section. The station master gives a tablet only after ensuring by telephoning the next station that the line is clear for the train to proceed.

Two railway workers patrol along the tracks making sure that everything is in order. Once the patrollers have reported the track is clear, the trains are given the signal to pass. In the event of danger, the patrollers will warn the engine driver by lighting a  firecracker, or a sparkler after dark.

Locals tell that some time back there was an incident where only one person was sent for this task but he vanished without a trace. Many believed that he was snatched away by a leopard.

Nanuoya Railway Station

Located 1625 meters above sea level, the Nanuoya railway station is one of the biggest railway stations along the Colombo-Badulla railway tracks. There used to be a small train which made its way from Nanuoya to Nuwara Eliya to transport goods but it was stopped in 1941 when the authorities decided to shift the goods in Lorries.

Pattipola Railway Station

Located 1891 meters above sea level, the small Pattipola station still uses some of the equipment that was placed there when the station was built around 150 years ago. A painting portraying the site in 1940 still hangs on the wall in the station master’s office.

Pattipola Railway Station

Building the railway through Demodara was particularly challenging due to the high elevations. At the time, the maximum inclination allowed in railways was one foot per 44 feet. It is said that, when surveyors were in a conundrum to proceed beyond Demodara, a local farmer suggested to the experts to build the track similar to the way his turban was tied.  In 1921, after several years of construction, the looping track was finally commissioned and the first train arrived at Demodara.