The grandeur of scenery by train to Kandy

By D.C. Ranatunga

April 1867 marks a significant milestone in Sri Lanka’s railway journey. One hundred and fifty years ago, on 26 April, the first train ran from Colombo to Kandy. However, the route was opened for passenger traffic only after three months – on 3 August.

The opening of the railway was mainly for the purpose of transporting goods from up-country to Colombo. The main problem was sending down the coffee crops from the estates. A few cart roads were opened in 1856. Two roads were opened from Colombo to Kandy – one through Kadugannawa and the other via Kurunegala. It took days for the carts to reach Colombo. 

In the same year when these roads were opened (1856), a public meeting was held demanding the construction of a railway between Colombo and Kandy. The agitation virtually coincided with the ‘railway mania’ in England when promoters were looking at the possibilities of profitable railway development offered by India and other colonies. Where Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then called) was concerned, a project to construct a line from Colombo to Kandy was the first proposal.

“This scheme for connecting the modern with the ancient capital of the island had much to recommend it on the score of commercial advantage as well as administrative utility,” states the chapter on ‘Railways’ in ‘Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon’ – Arnold Wright 1907). “But it was brought forward in advance of its time. Railways then, as far as the East was concerned, were experiments, and the financial risks were considered too great to be undertaken.”

The initiative to construct the first railway was taken by Governor Sir Henry Ward (1855-60) who, in 1856, reported to the Secretary of State for the Colonies that the railway was “an absolute necessity”. However, there were delays mainly due to the high costs involved and the selected contractors failing to deliver. 

After much discussion, in 1862 the Legislative Council sanctioned the contract with W.F. Fawiell to build the railway from Colombo to Kandy at a cost of £ 873,039. The work was considered enormously difficult. While Kandy situated 1,727 ft. above sea level, the route was through a mountainous region covered for the most part with jungle. 

The line from Colombo to Ambepussa was opened in October 1865 and work was completed up to Polgahawela by November 1866. The Kadugannawa incline was the most difficult to handle where heavy rock cuttings had to be done.  By March 1867 the line had reached top of the incline.

‘An engineering marvel’ 

Even after 40 years of the completion of the Kandy line, it was reported that it remained amongst the greatest engineering feats in the world – “a solid and enduring testimony to British engineering skill and ingenuity”. 

The feat was described thus: “Substantially constructed on the broad Indian 5ft. 6ins. gauge, with lofty viaducts and a series of tunnels and rising to a gradient of 1 in 45 in places, the line is a marvel of adaptability. The grandeur of the scenery through which the railway passes enhances its impressiveness. If Ceylon had no other spectacle to offer than this line the visitor from afar would be well repaid the trouble and expense of the long sea voyage.”

Once the line to Kandy was completed, the plantation community started pressing for extensions to other hilly areas in order to get their produce to Colombo with ease. The line to Gampola was opened for goods traffic on 15 January 1873 and to passenger traffic on 1 February. This resulted in agitation from the Dikoya Planters’ Association for further extensions. The years to follow showed the gradual increase to cover other plantation areas.

More demand

In December 1874, the Main Line, as it came to be called, was extended as far as Nawalapitiya. Then came demands from Dimbula, Dikoya, Maskeliya and Matale. A deputation met the Governor to press for their demand and the Governor suggested that the coffee planters should give a guarantee of 6% of the cost through an export duty on coffee, if there was a deficiency at the end of one year.

In 1876 a Royal Commission looked at the feasibility of extending the line up to Haputale and then to Nanu Oya. In 1878 the Secretary of State approved the extension up to Nanu Oya, en route to Uva, and tenders were called for. In 1889 the Matale extension was sanctioned, and was opened to traffic eight months before the scheduled date. Different British contractors were chosen for the work. Agitation for an extension to Uva from Nanu Oya took the form of public meetings, petitions and deputations.  The year 1884 saw the extensions to Hatton (June) and Talawakele (November) followed by Nanu Oya in May 1885. By June 1893 the line was opened to Haputale.  Meanwhile, the railway gradually started constructing lines in other parts of the country. That’s another story.