The Sri Lanka Railway Department is Sri Lanka's railway owner and primary operator. As part of the Sri Lankan government, it is overseen by the Ministry of Transport. Founded in 1858 as the Ceylon Government Railway, it operates the nation's railways and links Colombo with other population centres and tourist destinations.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, 2-4-0+0-4-2 is an articulated locomotive, usually of the Garratt type. The wheel arrangement is effectively two 2-4-0 locomotives operating back to back, with the boiler and cab suspended between the two power units. Each power unit has two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and no trailing wheels. A similar wheel arrangement exists for Mallet locomotives, but is referred to as 2-4-4-2 since only the front engine unit can pivot.
The M1 locomotive was a class of locomotives, used by Sri Lanka Railways, imported from 1953, and manufactured by Brush Bagnall Traction.
Bamunusinghearachchige Don Rampala, was a chief mechanical engineer and later general manager of Sri Lanka Railways. He was the first native Sri Lankan to hold the post of chief mechanical engineer. In 1956, the Institution of Locomotive Engineers in London recognised Rampala as the finest diesel engineer in Asia at the time.
Locomotives and train sets of Sri Lanka Railways consist mostly of diesel locomotives and multiple units. Steam locomotives are no longer used, except on heritage trains, such as the Viceroy Special.
The CGR class C1 and C1a were steam locomotives of the Garratt type built by Beyer, Peacock & Company, England for the Ceylon Government Railways (CGR), now Sri Lanka Railways. The Class C1 prototype was built in 1928 and was followed by eight Class C1a locomotives in 1946. The C1a class was converted to oil firing between 1950 and 1954.
The CGR Class H1 was a 2-4-0+0-4-2T steam locomotive of the Garratt type built by Beyer, Peacock & Company, England for the Ceylon Government Railway (CGR), now Sri Lanka Railways. Only one locomotive of this type was built, and its CGR plate number was 293.
The Sri Lanka Railways Class M2 is a class of diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in 1954 by General Motors Diesel, Canada, and Electro-Motive Division, USA. This is considered one of the most successful locomotives in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Sikhamani Thamotharam Somasekaram was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil geographer and Surveyor General.
Class M7 is a type of diesel-electric locomotive built for Sri Lanka Railways by Brush Traction, UK, and imported in 1981. This locomotive has the shortest length, least power and least weight compared to other diesel locomotives of Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lanka Railways Class M5 is a type of diesel-electric locomotive. The class was ordered to strengthen the diesel locomotive fleet of Sri Lanka Railways.
The Sri Lanka Railways Class W1 is a class of Sri Lankan diesel hydraulic locomotive that was built by Rheinstahl Henschel in 1969. A total of 45 W1s were built and imported. This is the first diesel-hydraulic locomotive which ran on Sri Lankan rail.
The Sri Lanka Railways W2 is a class of diesel-hydraulic locomotives built by LEW Hennigsdorf for Sri Lanka Railways.
The Sri Lanka Railways Class S5 is a diesel multiple unit (DMU) built by Hitachi and introduced to Sri Lanka between 1969 and 1970, only two of which were imported. The class was built with modern interior facilities aiming towards the special train tours market.
The Ceylon Government Railway Class S1 was a class of diesel multiple unit train-set built by English Electric for Ceylon Government Railway.
Uda Pussellawa Railway (UPR) or Udupussallawa Railway (Sinhala: උඩුපුස්සැල්ලාව දුම්රිය මාර්ගය Uḍupussællāwa Dumriya Mārgaya) was a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge railway line that existed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) between 1903 and 1948. The line connected Nanu Oya railway station with Ragala via Nuwara Eliya.
Colombo - Badulla Night Mail Train is a night time passenger and mail train that runs between Colombo and Badulla in Sri Lanka.
Polgahawela Junction railway station is a major junction station, situated in the Kurunegala District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is the 34th railway station on the Main line and is 73.83 kilometres (45.88 mi) away from the Colombo Fort Railway Station, at an elevation of 74.39 metres (244.1 ft) above sea level. The station is located at the centre of Polgahawela and is a main junction point joining two railway lines; one coming from the upcountry of Sri Lanka and another from the northern part of the country.
The Indian locomotive class WDM-3D is a class of diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in 2003 by Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW), Varanasi for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Diesel (D), Mixed traffic (M) engine with 3300 horsepower (3D). The engine is classified WDM-3D though it outputs only 3300 hp and not 3400 hp as the name should suggest. They entered service in 2003. A total of 590+ WDM-3D were built at Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW), Varanasi between 2003 and 2016.
Ukuwela Railway Station is a railway station on the Matale railway line of Sri Lanka. It is the 65th railway station on the line from Colombo Fort railway station and is located in the Matale District in the Central Province. It is 141.6 kilometres (88.0 mi) from the Colombo Fort Railway Station and 28 km (17 mi) from the Kandy Railway Station. The station was opened on 14 October 1880 following the construction of a branch line from Kandy to Matale.
