Sri Lanka Railways S12 is a class of Diesel-electric multiple unit (DEMU) built for

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: ...

by China's CSR Corporation. The first batch arrived in Sri Lanka in August 2012. They were built to replace locomotive-hauled passenger trains. Seven of the S12 DMUs were ordered to strengthen long-distance travel on the Main line from Colombo to

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 ...

. Four of S12s were built to serve the

Kelani Valley Line The Kelani Valley railway line in Sri Lanka, covering the breadth of Colombo District. The line is owned, maintained, and operated by Sri Lanka Railways. Route definition and overview The Kelani Valley line runs southeast from Maradana Railway ...

. The remaining set was designed as a luxury train.

History

The S12 DEMUs were meant to improve services on the Main Line and the Kelani Valley Line. The steep slopes on the up-country portion of the Main Line is difficult to operate. Prior to the S12, only a few classes of locomotives were capable of operating this line. As DEMUs started to replace locomotive-operated trains on other lines, the up-country Main Line could not be operated by DEMUs. The S12 is the first DEMU to handle these conditions. The locomotives were purchased under a USD 101 million credit line agreement with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The loan was to be settled within 15 years. In September 2012, the first units had trial runs. The first Main Line train operated by the S12 began on 23 October 2012. Most of the named services operated by the S12 DEMUs were later taken over by the newer S14 DEMUs.

Current fleet details

Operations

Gallery

File:Gare d'Ohiya-Sri Lanka 01.jpg, A S12 at Ohiya station File:S12 some where in Main Line.jpg File:Rail Pa - 2017 (39583360062).jpg

References

{{Locomotives of Sri Lanka S12 Diesel multiple units with locomotive-like power cars Train-related introductions in 2012