Maradana railway station

Maradana Railway Station

මරදාන දුම්රිය ස්ථානය
மருதானை ரயில் நிலையம்
Maradana railway station with clock tower
General information
LocationMaradana, Colombo
Sri Lanka
Owned bySri Lanka Railways
Line(s)Main Line
Coastal Line
Kelani Valley Line
History
Opened1908[1]
Electrifiedno[2]
Track interchange at Mardana

Maradana Railway Station (Sinhala: මරදාන දුම්රිය ස්ථානය, Tamil: மருதானை ரயில் நிலையம்) is a major rail hub in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The station is served by Sri Lanka Railways, with many inter-city and commuter trains entering each day. It is the terminus of several intercity trains.[3]

Maradana is home to the suburban-Colombo network's centralised traffic control centre.

History

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When the railways first opened in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1864, trains terminated at Colombo Terminus Station, a now-retired station near Maradana. In 1906, a project was launched to reorganise the railway within the Colombo area. Colombo Terminus Station was closed and replaced by the new Maradana Station.[1]

Fort Railway Station was opened in 1917, as a new central station for Colombo.[1] Today, Maradana and Fort are the primary rail gateways to Colombo.

Location

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Maradana Station is in Maradana, located next to the Elphinstone Theatre and near the Maradana Railway Yards. Colombo Fort Station is a couple kilometres away from Maradana Station.

Features

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Maradana Station features a two-storey building housing the ticket office, waiting room, and Sri Lanka Railways offices. A footbridge leads to the platforms.[4] The main building is an example of British colonial architecture.

The railways operates its centralised traffic control (CTC) for the Colombo area through a facility at Maradana.[5] The CTC handles about 290 trains per day.[6]

Services

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The station is served from the north-east by the Main line, which leads to several other major routes in Sri Lanka's railway network. To the south-east of the station, the Kelani Valley Line connects Maradana with many other area of Colombo. The station is served to the west by the Coastal line, leading to Galle and Matara. Most of these Coastal-line trains terminate at Maradana Station.

Maradana station is also a hub for commuter rail within the Colombo metropolis.

Inter-city trains

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Service Route Frequency
4001 & 4002 Yal Devi Colombo Fort – Colombo Maradana – Vavuniya – (Jaffna) – (Kankesanturai) Daily
4451, 4468 & 4470 Colombo Fort – Colombo Maradana – Ragama - Polgahawela – Kurunegala - Maho Daily
8085, 8086, 4085, & 4086 Rajarata Rajina Anuradhapura – Maho – Kurunegala – Polgahawela – Maho – Ragama – Colombo Maradana – Colombo Fort – Panadura - Galle – Matara Daily
6011 & 6012 Udaya Devi Colombo Fort – Colombo Maradana – Batticaloa Daily
1015 & 1016 Udarata Menike Colombo Fort – Colombo Maradana – Ragama - Polgahawela – Peradeniya - Nawalapitiya - Hatton - Nanu Oya - Pattipola - Ella - Badulla Daily
1005 & 1006 Podi Menike Colombo Fort – Colombo Maradana – Ragama - Polgahawela – Peradeniya - Nawalapitiya - Hatton - Nanu Oya - Pattipola - Ella - Badulla Daily
Tikiri Menike Colombo Fort – Colombo Maradana – Ragama - Polgahawela – Peradeniya - Nawalapitiya - Hatton - Nanu Oya - Pattipola - Ella - Badulla Daily
Senkadagala Menike Colombo Fort – Colombo Maradana – Ragama - Polgahawela – Peradeniya - Kandy Daily
8058 & 8059 Ruhunu Kumari Colombo Maradana – Colombo Fort – Panadura - Galle – Matara Daily
8760 & 8327 Samudra Devi Colombo Maradana – Colombo Fort – Panadura - Galle – Matara Daily
8056 & 8057 Galu Kumari Colombo Maradana – Colombo Fort – Panadura - Galle – Matara Daily
8096 & 8097 Sagarika Colombo Maradana – Colombo Fort – Panadura - Galle-Matara-Beliatta Daily
3427 & 3803 Muthu Kumari Colombo Fort – Colombo Maradana – Ragama - Negombo – Chilaw - Bangadeniya - Puttalam Daily

Commuter and local trains

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Route Frequency
Towards Panadura -
Towards Veyangoda -
Towards Ja Ela -
Kelani Valley Line -

Continuity

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Preceding station Sri Lanka Railways Following station
Terminus   Ruhunu Kumari   Colombo Fort
  Samudra Devi   Colombo Fort
  Galu Kumari   Colombo Fort
  Sagarika   Colombo Fort
Ragama   Muthu Kumari   Colombo Fort
Ragama   Rajarata Rajina   Colombo Fort
Ragama   Udarata Menike   Colombo Fort
  Podi Menike   Colombo Fort
  Tikiri Menike   Colombo Fort
  Senkadagala Menike   Colombo Fort
Baseline Road   Kelani Valley Line   Terminus
Dematagoda   Commuter Rail   Colombo Fort

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Hyatt, D. An Overview of the Development of the Sri Lanka Railway 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-07-14. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
  2. ^ "Daily News". IESL proposes railway electrification project. 2010-12-25. Archived from the original on 2012-03-08.
  3. ^ "Sri Lanka Railways Timetable" Archived 2012-01-04 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Cave, Henry William (1910). The Ceylon Government Railway: A Descriptive and Illustrated Guide, Mainly Extracted from the Author's Larger Work "The Book of Ceylon,". Cassell, limited.
  5. ^ "The Island". Rampala regime in the local Railway History. 2010-07-19.
  6. ^ "Railway Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) Center". Sri Lanka Railways. Retrieved 6 February 2012.