Something to rail about

By Satish Goonesinghe

The Colombo-Puttalam rail line covers a distance of about 83 miles (134 km) and was completed in 1926. Our journey which was made just in the distal segment of the line, commenced at the New Puttalam station, which is situated about a mile from the city centre. The old station is located farther away facing the lagoon.

Why are the two stations located wide apart? 

History has the answer to this. During World War II, the line from Puttalam to Bangadeniya was removed in order to utilize rails for more important routes, but subsequently the line was re-laid even going north beyond Puttalam. As a result, we have a new station and a redundant old station in Puttalam.

It's quite a walk to the new station from the bustling city centre. I wanted to take the rail bus leaving at 4.06 p.m. There was hardly any activity in the station at 3.30 p.m. when I reached there. 

I found a stationary Class S7 Japanese push-pull type train and the "rail-bus" at the station. Farther away there was a Class W1 German Henschel diesel hydraulic locomotive (The Sri Lanka Railways classifies its locomotives and trains by designating them to 'classes" - e.g., push-pull trains belong to Class S, diesel hydraulic locomotives to Class W, diesel electric locomotives to Class M etc).

The rail bus marked RB-7/RB-8 without any class being assigned to it, looked different from the conventional long trains. It comprised two conventional motor buses coupled permanently back to back. 

For obvious reasons there were metallic wheels in place of rubber tyres and there was no steering wheel. The driver's compartments at either end were partitioned from the rest of the vehicle. This great improvisation was the work of our own rail engineers at SLR's Ratmalana Railway Workshop.

By 4.00 p.m., there was a lot of activity when many passengers began boarding the rail bus leaving for Chilaw. The passengers reflected the rich ethnic diversity of Puttalam - bearded Moslems, Tamil girls in salwars and Sinhala villagers in their traditional dresses.

The driver and his assistant were in the front compartment, while the traditional "railway guard" with his whistle and flags sat in the rear one. The whistle was followed by the sound of a "bus horn'' and the rail bus started its southward journey to Chilaw. For a moment I had the notion that I was in an Ashok Leyland bus, such was the sound of the engine. 

The seats and the rest of the interior were those of a bus, but the sonorous sounds coming from rails and wheels were certainly those of a train. The vertical and side-to-side swaying movements were typical of a local railway journey.

Some of the passengers were to continue their journey south of Chilaw while others were to get off at intermediate stations like Madurankuli, Mundel, famous for its annual fire-walking ceremony. Some passengers I spoke to found the rail bus to be a faster and more convenient mode of transport than the road. The rail bus plies between Puttalam and Chilaw twice a day in addition to the normal train services that are available.

The initial part of the journey is sandwiched between the A3 highway and the lagoon.

Farther to the west one can see the mighty Kalpitiya peninsula on the horizon. 

In bygone times, we were used to the sight of the net traps for prawns, fishermen in canoes and boats in the lagoon with nets. However, today, the lagoon area has undergone a massive transformation with the opening up of prawn hatcheries and prawn farms. Large billboards advertising prawn and shrimp feed can be seen everywhere. With the setting sun in the background, these rectangular pools containing masses of crustaceans are a spectacular sight. 

The rail bus continued its journey at quite a speed, stopping at all stations. The station names apparently have different linguistic roots - e.g., Madurankuli, Pulichchakulam with Tamil roots and Battuluoya, Mangalaeliya with Sinhala roots, reflecting the cultural diversity of the north-western coast. Pleasantries were often exchanged between station staff and the passengers at most of the stops, as most were closely-knit small communities. 

In the second half of the journey beyond Pulichchakulam, the surroundings were transformed. There is no lagoon to be seen south of Pulichchakulam and from about this point the aridity of the surroundings changed to rich green vegetation. 

No longer could we smell the typical brackish aroma of the lagoon. I could not see any more palmyrah palms beyond this point. The rail bus travelled through large coconut plantations and patches of paddyfields. 

En route the rail bus passed over two large rivers - Battulu Oya and Deduru Oya. Just imagine - a motor bus passing over rail bridges! Deduru Oya is considered a boundary that divides the wet zone from the dry zone.

After passing Bangadeniya, famous for its roof tiles we finally reached Chilaw around 5.20 p.m., and there were many men, women and children with sacks and baskets on the platform, waiting to get into the rail bus for its return journey to Puttalam. There was pandemonium as they attenpted to "reserve" seats even before we disembarked from the rail bus. For my part I felt like going back to Puttalam on the rail bus, but I had to continue to Colombo because of commitments. I completed the remainder of the journey in a conventional Class S8 Korean Hyundai push-pull train. 

It was a brief, but unusual travel experience which I found more interesting because of the diverse and friendly people. 

It appears that the basic function of our rail buses is to take passengers from one point to another cost-effectively, in areas where there is a relatively low load factor. Locally improvised rail buses would potentially save millions of dollars spent on traditional trains in areas with low load factors.

Whatever the type of railway buff you are - a train spotter going into technicalities or a train traveller who merely likes to experience different types of train travel - this is going to be a great experience. But a word of warning - this journey definitely is not for those who prefer the comforts of First Class travel!
 

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