Pattipola Railway Tunnel, or the Summit Tunnel, is the third longest and the highest railway tunnel in Sri Lanka. It is located approximately away from the Pattipola railway station, straddling the boundary of the

Badulla Badulla (, ; ,) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District. Geography Badulla is located in the southeast of Kandy, almost enci ...

and

Nuwara Eliya District Nuwara Eliya District (; ) is a district in Central Province, Sri Lanka, centered on the tourist city of Nuwara Eliya. Demographics According to the 2001 census of Sri Lanka, population of Nuwara Eliya district is 703,610, of which 50.5 ...

s. The tunnel was designed by Sir

Guilford Lindsey Molesworth Sir Guilford Lindsey Molesworth (1828–1925) was an English civil engineer. Early years and family Molesworth was born in Millbrook, Hampshire, the son of John Edward Nassau Molesworth, Vicar of Rochdale. The elder Molesworth was a great-gra ...

, the first director-general of

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...

in Ceylon (1865–1871), and constructed by F. W. Faviell. In January 1951 the concrete lining of the tunnel collapsed due to the activities of the Garret engines that were running on the Main Line at that time. Permanent repairs were completed in March 1951 by the district engineer, Priyal de Silva. In 1981 the tunnel was renovated, with the removal of the concrete arches installed in 1951.

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