Trains and getting around Sri Lanka

Trains: running, reopening and closed

In late November 2025 Cyclone Ditwah brought landslides and floods that damaged long stretches of Sri Lanka’s railway, worst of all the 292 km hill-country Main Line from Colombo to Badulla. Repairs have reopened most of the network in stages:

• Running: the Coast Line (Colombo–Galle–Matara–Beliatta), the Northern Line to Jaffna and Kankesanthurai, and the Trincomalee and Batticaloa lines (fully reopened on 1 January 2026).
• Hill country, east end: the famous tea-country stretch from Nanu Oya through Pattipola, Haputale and Ella to Badulla reopened on 18 July 2026.
• Colombo–Kandy: trains ran only as far as Rambukkana while the climb to Kandy was rebuilt; services were due to resume in October 2026.
• Kandy–Nanu Oya: still under repair, expected to reopen around the end of 2026 or early 2027.

So for now, the classic ride means taking a car or bus to Nanu Oya (the station for Nuwara Eliya) and boarding there for Ella. You still get the best of it: Pattipola, at 1,897.5 m the highest station on the network, the tea estates, and the 1921 Nine Arches Bridge near Ella. Check railway.gov.lk before you plan.

Booking: reserved seats open 30 days ahead. Hill-country trains carry a first-class observation saloon at the back with big windows, plus reserved and unreserved second and third class. Observation and reserved seats sell out first in high season.

Buses: everywhere, cheap, lively

Buses reach almost every town and village. Red buses belong to the state Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB); white buses are private and often faster. In Colombo, long-distance SLTB buses leave from the Central Bus Stand in Pettah, open 24 hours, and private ones from the nearby Bastian Mawatha stand. Air-conditioned intercity buses run on the expressways, for example towards Galle and Matara.

• No booking: wave one down or board at a stand, and pay the conductor on board. Have small notes.
• The front seats are often reserved for clergy (monks) and for people with disabilities or pregnant women. Watch for the signs.
• Big backpacks may need a seat of their own, or go by the driver.
• Driving can be fast on mountain roads; sit near the front if you get travel-sick.

Tuk-tuks, taxi apps and drivers

PickMe, the local app, books cars and three-wheel tuk-tuks at a fixed upfront fare; Uber works in Colombo and other cities. For a street tuk-tuk, agree the fare before you get in, or choose a metered one. Most visitors touring the island hire a car with driver through their hotel or a licensed agency, since the driver knows the slow, winding roads.

Driving yourself

Foreigners can drive, but only with three documents: a valid home licence, an International Driving Permit, and a Sri Lankan recognition permit from the Automobile Association of Ceylon or a temporary licence from the Department of Motor Traffic (offices at Werahera and a counter at the airport). Traffic drives on the left. Police have warned that unlicensed foreign drivers will be prosecuted, and that renting a vehicle to someone without a valid licence is an offence too.

Flying around the island

Cinnamon Air flies small Cessna 208 aircraft, some fitted with floats, from Colombo’s Bandaranaike airport to places like Koggala, Batticaloa, Jaffna and the hill country. It costs far more than the road, but turns a full-day transfer into an hour. More in our arrival guide.