Sri Lanka Railways Forum

Yal Devi made her maiden journey on April 23, 1956, with two other trains, Udarata Menike and Ruhunu Kumari and because of this many, Sri Lankans considered them as three sisters.

Trains no longer arrive at the Jaffna railway station. The familiar ‘kuchu kuchu’ of locomotive engines and the ‘hoooooo’ of their whistles, no longer rent the air. Porters are extinct. Taxis are conspicuous by their absence. Because, the Yal Devi goes no further than Vavuniya.

Times have changed. The Yal Devi was not destined to terminate its journey at this tiny railway station in the middle of nowhere. It was to stop at the great Jaffna station. It was meant to link Colombo with the northern most city, Jaffna. To connect two different cultures, Sinhala and Tamil.

To take kalu dodol from the south and bring back thal hakuru and karthakolomban. It is a past that Mailwahanam Vipulaskandha remembers well. This retired station master, who grew up near the Jaffna railway station, reminisced on the hustle and bustle of the once busy Jaffna railway station and the express train to the north, Yal Devi.

“Yal Devi commenced its journey in the 1950s. As a boy growing up in Jaffna, I remember all the commotion which took place at the Jaffna station when the Yal Devi arrived,” he said. “In its heyday, Jaffna railway station was the second largest station. The porters rushed to the platform ready to put the luggage on their heads. The tea-boys were ready with their kettles, and the vendors of vadai switched on their kerosene stoves,” he remembers.

Northern Railway Map showing the line past Vavuniya dismantled.

Yal Devi commences her journey

Yal Devi made her maiden journey on April 23, 1956, with two other trains, Udarata Menike and Ruhunu Kumari and because of this many, Sri Lankans considered them as three sisters.

Many factors led to the launch of these three ‘express’ trains. Not only did the government want to expand the passenger transport network of the Ceylon Government Railway (CGR) but also show the general public of their detachment from the colonial past and their ability to outdo the British. The timetables of the three trains were arranged so that a commuter who boards the Ruhunu Kumari from Matara after breakfast would reach Jaffna for dinner.

Cass M1 Chavakacheri, 1976.

Although all three trains were called express trains, Vipulaskandha assures us that, compared with the Yal Devi, the other two were insignificant. “Easily identified by its white and blue colour scheme, with its name boldly painted across the length of the carriages, in all three languages, the Yal Devi was the queen of express trains. That’s why they always gave her platform number 1.

It always left Fort railway station, precisely, at 5:45 each evening, packed. As a kid, I have travelled on that train many times. I remember the train leaving the railway station after giving a mighty holler. I also remember children of my age trying to imitate the noise of the engine,” Vipulaskandha said.

Blazing through

Colombo bound MLW Class M4 Uttara Devi at Navatkuli

Travelling a distance of 409 kms (256 miles) it only stopped at the “big” stations such as Ragama junction, Polgahawela Junction, Kurunegala, Maho Junction, Anuradhapura, Medawachchiya Junction, Vavuniya, Elephant Pass, Jaffna and Kankesanthurai. It made this long journey in express time, often passing regular trains that started long before she did.

“The train raced at speeds in excess of 45mph, past small stations that dotted the northern line, without slowing down. This often reminded me of an arrogant belle who ignores suitors she thought not worthy of her attention,” he said.

Vipulaskandha recalled an idyllic era when the Sinhalese would flock to Jaffna on festive occasions, visit local taverns, imbibe palmyrah toddy, eat masala dosai and prawns, indulge in karthakolomban for dessert and visit Nallur Kanda Swami Kovil and Naga Devale. “When I started working at the CGR, many Sinhala friends visited me. We used our CGR credentials to book the observation carriage, to escape from being sandwiched and squashed by the thousands of passengers,” he said.

End of a journey

MLW pulling Yaazh Devi in the tobacco fields of Inuvil, 1984.

But now, all that has changed. The Yal Devi does not go beyond Vavuniya. The decades-old civil strife put an end to Yal Devi’s journey to Jaffna in the early 1990s. The once grand Jaffna railway station is now in ruins and the train itself carries only a handful of compartments, and Vipulaskandha told me that even these are almost empty after Anuradhapura. “The train stops at the single-platform Vavuniya station.

The charges for Elephant Pass, Jaffna and Kankesanthurai are still displayed at the station. But everyone knows that this is the end of the line,” he said Even though the Yal Devi stopped going to Jaffna in 1990, Vipulaskandha said that the beginning of the end started much earlier. “Because of the insurgency, people stopped commuting by train. In the mid 1980s, the track was removed at several points, but the Indian army laid it back. But only a few people travelled by train, when the Indian army left and the LTTE captured several sections of the northern line. That was the end of the Yal Devi’s journey to Jaffna,” he said.

All downhill

MLW Class M4 at Kondavil pulling Yaazh Devi towards KKS, Engine Driver Tissera.

It was all downhill after that. Although it is still an express train, it no longer whizzes past other trains. Now it stops at every station after Maho Junction and is no longer the trim and proper belle that it once was. The compartments are old and untidy. Its once magnificent restaurant is now reduced to a counter that serves weird looking, awful smelling short-eats. Its toilets are unusable. Porters do not flock the platform when the train arrives. ‘Tuk-tuk’ drivers hardly care for the passengers the Yal Devi now brings.

“The Yal Devi has grown old and like an old woman, it travels slowly and shakily, stopping to rest at every station,” Vipulaskandha said. Because the train no longer arrives at the Jaffna railway station.

Class M4 being rotated on a turntable.

My uncle worked at the CGR in the 1960s and is a friend of Vipulaskandha. Although he never worked on the northern line, he has travelled several times to Jaffna by Yal Devi. Sometimes, he recounts tales of Jaffna, to me. Of the karthakolomban, prawns, Naga Devale and the majestic Yal Devi. Whenever I remember these stories, I wish I could travel to Jaffna by train and enjoy the city, the way my uncle did. But, I know I can’t, because trains no longer arrive at the Jaffna railway station.

Former station master recalls a bygone era

Mailwahanam Vipulaskandha

Growing up near the Jaffna railway station in the 1950s, Mailwahanam Vipulaskandha always dreamt of joining the Ceylon Government Railway (CGR) and becoming a station master. One must remember that at this time the CGR was at its zenith. Station masters and engine drivers lived like royalty, living in comfortable railway quarters and served by an assortment of servants. “I always wanted to join the CGR and my dream came true in 1967 when I joined as an assistant station master. I was sent to the railway training school and then was posted to Batticaloa in 1969. After one or two years I went to Vavuniya. After that most of my service was in the Northern line,” he said.

From 1970 he worked as a relief station master in the northern line working in stations like Chunnakam, Anuradhapura, KKS, Mankulam, Vavuniya and Madu. “As a relief station master I have worked all over the Northern line,” he said. Although the late 1960s and 1970s were a time of peace, the Northern line was a pleasant place to work in. But things began to gradually deteriorate in the 1980s. When violence escalated between government troops and armed groups, railway officers like Vipulaskandha were trapped in the middle. Violence and assassination became a part of daily life. It was while working at the Madu railway station in the mid 1980s that Vipulaskandha faced what he calls, the most traumatic experience of his life. “I was working at Madu station in 1985 as the relief station master. Unlike today, back then, there was a small Sinhala community living in Madu. There was a Sinhala school as well, the Madu Maha Vidyalaya. Several of my porters too were Sinhalese. One day several members of an armed group came to the station dragging two Sinhala women to the station. They shot the two women in front of my own eyes. Then they came to my room and asked me whether there were any Sinhalese people working in the station. I said ‘no’. Then they went away,” he said with a shudder.

Little did the gunmen know that Vipulaskandha was concealing one of his Sinhalese porters behind his chair. “When they came in and talked to me, one of the Sinhala porters was hiding behind the chair I was seated on. I was trying to play cool although I was very scared. If the armed assailants realised that I was hiding someone from them they would have killed both of us on the spot. It was the most horrific experience I have been through, although I’m glad I was able to save a life. Now that boy is a man in his late 30s. He still keeps in touch with me and comes to see me from time to time,” he said. Although he’s now retired from the CGR, Vipulaskandha still has fond memories of the Northern railway line and its legendary train Yal-Devi. “I spent my youth working at the northern line. I have also seen the Yal-Devi speeding like a bullet on that line. I wish that my children could one day go to Jaffna travelling on the Northern line in that magnificent train,” he said.

The Northern railway of Sri Lanka

The Northern railway line branches northward from the main line at Polgahawela, passing Kurunegala, the capital of Wayamba Province, before continuing to the historic cultural and religious centre of Anuradhapura. This city was established in the 4th century B.C. and contains many sites of religious and archaeological interest. The service which is now curtailed by the Ceylon Government Railway, was considered the most important transport facility for travellers to and from Colombo. The major factor that contributed to the increasing number of train travellers, with the increase of population, was the non-availability of other modes of transport other than carts to compete the railway transport during this period.

MLW Class M4 pulling Yaazh Devi towards Colombo at Kondavil, 1983

The Northern line was built by the British to serve several purposes. While they wanted to end the isolation of the Jaffna peninsular and link it with the rest of the country, they also wanted to minimise the high death toll among the immigrant Indian labourers, because of the arduous journey from Mannar to the Kandyan province. Another reason was that the Indian labourers were responsible for spreading diseases like cholera and small pox to adjoining villages in the North and North-Central province of Sri Lanka.

The British appointed a Commission in 1877 to look into the feasibility of the Jaffna railway line. The Commission proposed extending the rail track from Polgahawela to Jaffna. Work began to extend the track to Kurunegala, in 1891.The track was opened on February 14, 1893. In 1903 work began on the extension of the track to Anuradhapura.

A rail track between Kankesanthurai and Chavakachcheri was laid on March 10, 1902 and it was extended to Palaly by September of that year. Work then commenced to link the track to Anuradhapura. The Talaimannar line extended towards the North West from Madawachchiya. By 1912 the bridge that linked Mannar to the main land was completed. On February 24, 1914 the Indo- Lanka Railway Service commenced. The transport facilities provided by the Northern railway not only enabled the majority of Indian labourers to migrate en masse with their families, but also saved the lives of both labourers and villagers in the North Central Province, since the spread of infectious diseases could be prevented as the immigrants no longer had contact with the population in the North Central Province.

Class M4 pulling Yaazh Devi at Kondavil

The creation of the Northern line acted as a catalyst for social change. It linked communities, ended the isolation of Jaffna, broke down social tradition, caste prejudices, and also spread new ideas and customs. For the first time newspapers from Colombo were available to all, which helped to increase the reading habits of the people and broaden their outlook.. This also led to the growth of education since people in Jaffna could send their children to Colombo or vice versa.

Lost Queen Of The Track

“Yal Devi”, a word of the past
The train that no longer arrives
To see the palmyrah trees…
The lost beautiful queen of the track
Woven with a magnificent cloak of blue
And white,
Can you take me to Jaffna once again?
Like you did in the olden days.
The road is still there, waiting, do you know?
A road without tracks
Symbolising a bond without brotherhood
Limited only to words,
And perhaps of pen and paper too,
A road that once was
Now covered from ashes and sands of time

Waiting to find her way back again
And to fly…
With her majestic powerful engines
Which pumped life to separate cultures,
A distant merger written in the sky,
A dream perhaps,
Tired of waiting…
Of an eternal joining of hands
And a pigeon with wounded wings
A stream of blood
Running down
Making its mark,
Eye for an eye
Blood for blood
The words keep repeating
And a union that never took place,
“Yal Devi”, the lost sister of the mist
Is still waiting to find her way
But when will you
Mighty train,
Arrive,
To take us home again? (JP)

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Source: The Nation

Tags: carriages, engine drivers, express trains, government, jaffna, kankesanthurai, locomotive engines, maiden journey, northern train, passenger transport, passengers, porters, railway line, railway station, restaurant car, ruhunu kumari, sri lanka railways, sri lankans, station masters, three sisters, transport network, udarata manike, yazh devi

                            

This entry was posted on Friday, December 5th, 2008 at 12:40 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.