Main Line through the Hill Country

A driver's view down Sri Lanka's Main Line from Nanu Oya to Kandy, descending more than 1,100 m through tea estates, Hatton and the Mahaweli valley.

The route

The Main Line is the backbone of Sri Lanka Railways, a 290 km broad gauge route from Colombo to Badulla in the hills of Uva. It was built in stages while the island was a British colony: the first train ran from Colombo towards Ambepussa in December 1864, the rails reached Kandy in April 1867, Nawalapitiya in 1874 and Nanu Oya in 1885, and the line was finally completed to Badulla in 1924.

The track is laid to 1,676 mm, the same broad gauge as India, and is not electrified. In the hills it climbs steadily along valley sides and spurs: Peradeniya Junction stands at about 473 m, Nawalapitiya at 583 m, Hatton at about 1,262 m and Nanu Oya at about 1,613 m, nearly 207 km from Colombo Fort. Beyond Nanu Oya the line goes on climbing to its summit at Pattipola, 1,898 m. Kandy itself lies on a short branch from Peradeniya Junction towards Matale.

Between Colombo and the hills the line is shared by long-distance and local trains. Named trains such as the Udarata Menike, Podi Menike and Tikiri Menike, along with the Colombo–Badulla night mail, run over it alongside local services. On the way up from Colombo, before the section in this film, the track clings to the cliffs between Balana and Kadugannawa. Kandy, by contrast, is a large station with five platforms, served by trains such as the Senkadagala Menike to Colombo Fort.

What you will see

The film was made from the cab of a Viceroy special charter train hauled by a Class M5B diesel locomotive in November 2025, running downhill from Nanu Oya to Kandy over about three and a half hours. Nanu Oya opened in 1885 as the end of a 31 km extension from Hatton, and from 1903 to 1948 it was also the junction for a narrow gauge branch to Nuwara Eliya and Ragala. Leaving it, the train winds down past Radella, Great Western and Talawakele through hillsides planted with tea.

Hatton, reached after a little over an hour, is the busiest station in the Nuwara Eliya District and the railhead for Adam's Peak; around a million passengers pass through during the pilgrimage season from December to May. From here the line keeps dropping past Rozella, Watawala and Galboda, through forest and estates, to Nawalapitiya on the banks of the Mahaweli river, where the railway arrived in December 1874 and many local trains begin and end.

The last part follows the Mahaweli valley through Gampola, which was the capital of the island in the fourteenth century, to Peradeniya Junction. Opened in 1867 on the original line to Kandy, it became a junction in 1873 and now has a triangular layout so trains can pass between lines without reversing. The film ends a few minutes later at Kandy, whose station has served the old royal city since passenger trains began in August 1867.

Riding it for real

Sri Lanka Railways runs several daily trains through the hill country, among them the Udarata Menike and Podi Menike between Colombo and Badulla, and the Tikiri Menike, which links Kandy with Hatton and Colombo Fort.

Hatton is the railhead for pilgrims to Adam's Peak, and its station handles a dozen trains a day. Check Sri Lanka Railways for current timetables, fares and reservations before you travel.

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