Taking the Train in Sri Lanka: Everything You Need to Know

The trains in Sri Lanka are not fast. They are not always on time. They are sometimes extremely crowded, occasionally delayed by circumstances that will not be explained, and the seats in second class are wooden. None of this matters. The train journey from Colombo to Kandy, or from Kandy to Ella, or across the flat northern plains to Jaffna, is one of the fundamental Sri Lankan experiences and the slowness is the point.

The Kandy to Ella route through the tea country is the one that appears on every list of great train journeys in the world, and the lists are right. The line climbs through tea estates, crosses waterfalls, plunges into tunnels, and emerges onto bridges over valleys that drop away into green distance. The air through the open doors is cool and smells of vegetation and diesel in a combination that becomes permanently associated with this specific journey.

Book first class observation car seats in advance on the Ella route — these are the glass-fronted cars at the end of the train with panoramic views and reserved seating. They book out weeks in advance in high season. If you cannot get them, second class is perfectly good. Sit near an open door, hold the rail, and watch the country go by. People will share their food with you. Accept.

The coastal line from Colombo south to Galle is the other great journey. The track runs metres from the water for long stretches and at high tide the spray comes up to the windows. Fishing boats, lagoons, mangroves, a succession of small stations where vendors board and off with short eats and king coconuts. The southern train is not scenically dramatic in the way the hill country one is. It is something quieter: a slow immersion in the ordinary daily life of the coast.