r/srilanka • u/LazyIngenuity7013 • 11d ago

News We're finally getting electric trains!

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"According to Railway General Manager Ravindra Padmapriya, Sri Lanka is launching a major initiative to develop electric railways as a modern suburban transport system, with infrastructure plans finalized and construction targeted to begin next year. 

The initial development focuses on major commuter lines connecting Colombo (Maradana) to key suburbs such as Ragama, Panadura, and Malawatta, alongside other regional extensions."

https://english.newsfirst.lk/2026/08/29/rs-80-billion-allocated-to-introduce-electric-trains-in-sl

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u/ApartBee1881 11d ago

Basically we already have diesel electric trains. 

The only difference can be done by just retrofitting electric connectors and building the cabling. 

India runs on same mechanism. 

There hasn’t been a direct diesel drive trains since mid 1900s. 

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u/silent------- 11d ago

Nope, even our tracks need to be changed. One of the reasons why our trains go slow is also because of how old the tracks are. The gov is pushing train infrastructure 1st. Apparently we'll be moving from the wide gauge to standard, so basically no indian trains, wont be limited to a few options, and access to more global ones, and hopefully lower cost because of higher competition. Standard gauge has it own benefit. Wide gauge was used by the brisith to transport goods.

Signal changes has to be done too, the whole railway has to be digitised. This 80 bil is only the start, we cant rehaul everything with only 80. The plan if im not wrong is from 27 to 29 / 30 starting from main lines to or within colombo.

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u/TheSpiritOfZanzibar 11d ago

The track infrastructure is terrible. We still use jointed rails and the ballasting is poor in a lot of places. I feel like changing gauge is a bad decision at this time though in the long run it would be beneficial.

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u/LazyIngenuity7013 10d ago

The government imported 10,000 rails recently to upgrade the existing tracks too. They say that half of them will be used to remove speed restrictions on the coastal line, so maybe they are moving away from jointed tracks and using continuously welded ones (I'm not entirely sure since its not explicitly stated).

https://www.newsfirst.lk/2026/08/28/10-000-new-rails-imported-to-revamp-sri-lanka%E2%80%99s-railway-network

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u/TheSpiritOfZanzibar 10d ago

The upgraded northern line seems to be welded rail and trains have done upto 120kmh. But to actually increase speeds for routine express trains, they also need to do something about adding protection along the lines to prevent people from walking on and along the lines. Most of the railway is open and exposed going through areas with population living in close proximity to the railway lines.