Funday Times

A series by Gaveshaka in association with Studio Times
Railway replaced bullock carts
It was 140 years ago that the railway was started in our country, which was then known as Ceylon. Although the idea of starting a railway was mooted as early as 1822 it was only in 1864 that the first trains were run. Pressure by planters who were involved in the coffee industry expedited the establishment of the railway.

In 1855, Governor Sir Henry Ward reported that a railway was “an absolute and imperative necessity” or Ceylon would “cease to exist as a coffee producing colony” in the face of competition from Brazil and Java. This was after a meeting of the planters held in Kandy in February 1855 where a suggestion was made that the export duty on coffee should be re-imposed for a limited period to finance the proposed railway. In July 1855, the Legislative Council unanimously agreed to the Governor’s proposal for the Ceylon Government to guarantee the interest on a loan of eight million sterling pounds to the Ceylon Railway Company, a private company set up in London in 1845 to undertake the railway project.

Work was started in 1858 when the first sod of the Colombo railway terminal was turned by Governor Ward on August 3, 1858. When the Company’s engineer indicated that the project was going to cost much more than what was originally estimated, the contract was cancelled and given over to another company. Later on, however, the project was taken over by the Government.

The need for a proper mode of transport to take rice and other supplies to the estates in the hill country and bring down coffee to Colombo for export was felt badly. This was being done using bullock carts owned by Ceylonese. By 1854 about 35,000 cart loads were taken from Colombo to Kandy and back and the pressure on the road was so great that a cart which normally returned in six to eight days, took 14 to 18 days and sometimes even four to six weeks.

The difficulty in getting a sufficient number of carts and the competition among planters to get their produce brought to Colombo led to an increase in the cost of transport. In addition things became worse when there were accidents on the way or when there was cattle sickness. Rainy weather was another problem which slowed down the movement of the carts. All this meant a rise in costs and inability to compete in the world market.

Our picture shows the first locomotive passing under the Maradana bridge on March 9, 1864. This bridge exists to this day. Maradana which was the main terminal, also had the railway yard where engines and carriages were stopped.

The first railway line to be constructed was from Colombo to Kandy. The first train ran from Colombo to Ambepussa on December 27, 1864. It was on April 25, 1867 that the first train arrived in Kandy. Four months later on August 3, Colombo-Kandy railway opened for traffic. After tea replaced coffee, which was affected by the blight, the railway line had to be extended to the tea growing areas. The first extension was to Gampola and then to Nawalapitiya in 1874; to Hatton and Talawakelle in 1884 and to Nanu Oya in 1885. From Nanu Oya the track continued up to Pattipola, which is the highest point in the railway reaching over 6,200 feet.

Tunnels had to be constructed piercing through the rocky terrain. The climb between Kadugannawa and Kandy necessitated the construction of ten tunnels within a distance of 20 km. In 1890 the line was extended from Kandy to Matale. Though the track was made up to Bandarawela by 1894, it was not until 1921 that the line to Badulla was opened.

After completing the railway to cater to the needs of the plantations which was the priority area, the authorities turned to the other areas. Down South, the line opened up to Galle in 1893 and was extended to Matara two years later. From Polgahawela, the line turned to the North reaching Kurunegala in 1893 and Anuradhapura by 1904. One year later the extension to Kankesanthurai was completed. The opening of the line to Talaimannar in 1914 enabled the easy movement of cheap South Indian labour for the tea and rubber plantations.

The Kelani Valley line was opened in the late 1920s to serve the rubber growing areas east of Colombo. This line was different to the other – it was a ‘narrow gauge’, where the ‘Punchi Kochchiya’ ran, as opposed to the normal ‘broad gauge’. It was only a few years back that it was replaced by the broad gauge.

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