The Trincomalee line is a

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Branching off the

Batticaloa line The Batticaloa line is a railway line in Sri Lanka. Branching off the Northern line at Maho Junction, the line heads east through North Central Province and south-easterly through Eastern Province before terminating at the eastern city of Batti ...

Gal Oya Junction Gal Oya Junction (Sinhala language, Sinhala: ගල් ඔය හන්දිය) is a railway station in the North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province of Sri Lanka. The station is a junction (rail), junction station, where the T ...

, the line heads north-east through North Central and

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air L ...

provinces before

terminating In computer science, a computation is said to diverge if it does not terminate or terminates in an exceptional state. Otherwise it is said to converge. In domains where computations are expected to be infinite, such as process calculi, a computatio ...

at the eastern city of

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

. The line is long and has nine

stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

. The line opened in 1927. The rail line was originally called the Batticaloa-Trincomalee Light Railway, as only

locomotives A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; th ...

with light axle loads were permitted. The circuitous route led to some rail employees wondering if the construction costs were paid on a mileage basis, with a manager stating "it followed the path of an intelligent cow". In the 1950s the route was deviated removing a number of sharp curves and steep gradients together with a switch to heavier rails to match the rest of the country's rail system.

References

Railway lines in Sri Lanka Railway lines opened in 1927 Transport in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka Transport in North Central Province, Sri Lanka 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in Sri Lanka 1927 establishments in Ceylon {{Asia-rail-transport-stub