Train services between Gampola and Nawalapitiya are expected to resume in December, engineers attached to the Upcountry Railway Line Development Project have said, setting the first firm date for the next stage of restoration after Cyclone Ditwah.
Preliminary reconstruction on the section has already begun. Eight landslides struck the track between Gampola and Nawalapitiya, with the most extensive damage near the Ulapane brick culvert, Hiru News reported. A train caught by the disaster remains stranded in the Ulapane Warakapitiya area, with slips blocking the line both ahead of and behind it.
The announcement follows the resumption of services as far as Gampola on 2 October, ten months after the cyclone severed the line.
Kandy hinges on one bridge
Services currently terminate at Peradeniya because renovation of the “black bridge” over the Mahaweli River beyond Sarasavi Uyana station is unfinished, Transport Minister Bimal Ratanayake told reporters. Plans for a second bridge over the Mahaweli are under way.
Superintendent Engineer (Upper) Danushka Dissanayake said 97 damaged locations were found between Rambukkana and Peradeniya, of which 36 were serious — collapses, landslides and major slips. If the damaged Yaka Bridge can be repaired quickly, Kandy services could resume by February, he said, according to the Sunday Times.
About 150 railway workers are assigned to the restoration, which has cost roughly Rs 1 billion so far. The work has drawn in the Railway Department, the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau, Central Engineering Services Ltd and the National Building Research Organisation. “This was an effort of a team of 70 people from several state agencies. It is remarkable that we were able to resume services within 10 months,” said Deputy Transport Minister Dr Prasanna Gunasena.
Scale of the damage
Cyclone Ditwah caused close to Rs 69 billion in damage to the national railway network, Hiru reported. The Colombo–Badulla line alone sustained 223 landslides and earth slips, halting travel along the route entirely. Nearly a year on, direct Colombo–Badulla services have still not been restored.
The two accounts count damage over different segments — Hiru’s eight slips cover Gampola to Nawalapitiya, while the Sunday Times figure of 97 sites spans Rambukkana to Peradeniya. The Sunday Times names the geotechnical agency as the National Building Research Institute; the organisation’s own name is the National Building Research Organisation.
