Gampaha railway station is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

city of

Gampaha Gampaha (Sinhala: ගම්පහ ; Tamil: கம்பஹா ) is an urban city in Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is situated to the north-east of the capital Colombo. It is the sixth largest urban area in Western Provinc ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. The station is served by

Sri Lanka Railways The Sri Lanka Railway Department (more commonly known as Sri Lanka Railways (SLR)) (Sinhala language, Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා දුම්රිය සේවය ''Śrī Laṃkā Dumriya Sēvaya''; Sri Lankan Tamil dialects, Tamil: ...

, which is the state-run railway operator.

Location

Gampaha railway station is located in the centre of Gampaha and is located next to the

Henarathgoda Botanical Garden Henarathgoda Botanical Garden, also known as Gampaha Botanical Garden, is one of the six botanical gardens in Sri Lanka. The botanical garden is situated on the Gampaha- Minuwangoda main road, approximately away from Gampaha railway station. ...

. Also

Bandaranaike International Airport Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) (commonly known as Colombo International Airport, Colombo–Bandaranaike International Airport, and locally as Katunayake International Airport) (IATA airport code, IATA: CMB, ICAO airport code, ICAO: VC ...

and Colombo Fort Station are about 15 and 28 kilometres away from Gampaha railway station respectively. It is the 15th station on the Main Line from Colombo Fort railway station with elevation of 10.97m high above mean sea level. Station has three platforms and one siding line with two crossing loops and they are designed as a commuter rail terminus.

History

In 1864, British colonists built this station as ''Henarathgoda railway station'' to facilitate the transportation of

Tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

and

Coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

from the hill country to

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

. In 1926, the station upgraded with double rail line and became a main railway station in the country. Later, the original station abandoned and it moved to current location with its present name, ''Gampaha railway station''. But old Henarathgoda station is still visible on the line approximately 100 m away from the present station. Currently this old Henarathgoda Railway Station Building serve as the Department of Archaeology Gampaha regional office.

Continuity

References

{{Reflist

External links

Cutting the First Sod of Earth for the Railway in 1858
Railway stations in Gampaha District Railway stations on the Main Line (Sri Lanka) Archaeological protected monuments in Gampaha District

Location

History

Continuity

See also

References

External links