Kelani Valley line


The Kelani Valley railway line in Sri Lanka, covering the breadth of Colombo District. 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

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. Originally built as a narrow-gauge line 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. The project was finally completed up to Avissawella in 1996. The tracks beyond were completely dismantled leaving only ruined stations, bridges, and bunds.

Infrastructure

The Kelani Valley line is entirely single track, at. 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. 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

During the narrow-gauge era, the line had its own fleet of narrow-gauge locomotives and rolling stock. The steam locomotives of Class K and Sentinel railcars class V1 and V2 were also used.
ClassHorse powerManufacturerEngineTransmissionLiveryImported year
N1492Krupp8 cylinder poweredHydraulicRed1953
N2600Kawasaki JapanGeneral Motors Detroit diesel v16HydraulicBlue & red1973
P1132HunsletRuston Hornsby 6 cylinderMechanicalGreen1950

Currently, the line is operated with broad-gauged S8 and S12 diesel multiple units.
ClassHorse powerManufacturerEngineTransmissionLiveryImported yearNotes
S61165Hitachi Paxman V12-12YJXL Diesel hydraulicFormerly Red, then Orange with White stripes 1975Not in use.
S71020Hitachi Cummins V8 KTA-2300 Diesel hydraulicGreen1977Not in use
S81430Hitachi & Hyundai MTU 12V396TCI13Diesel hydraulicOrange, white, and gray1991
S121950CSR MTU 12V4000R41 V12Diesel electricBlue2012

Operation

has a monopoly on the operation of Kelani Valley line.
As of January, 2016, there were 20 trains operating on the line daily, mainly catering to rush hour commuters traveling to and from Colombo. In Addition to this, Sri Lanka Railways introduced a rail bus service to cater commuters traveling between Kosgama and Maharagama during daytime.