Yal Devi - a binding force
Ananth PALAKIDNAR
|
The Canadian locomotive giants - M-I (Right) and M-2 (Left)
which served well and truly since the inception of the ‘Yal Devi’
that gave a huge boost to the country’s Northern railway
operations. Pic courtesy - Sri Lanka Railways Department
|
Those were the very words uttered by the then Governor General Sir
J.W. Ridgeway, who first launched the train service between North and
South in 1902.
| “Northern
Railway holds pride of place not only on account of the long
period of agitation which preceded its sanction, but also by
reason of its length and cost. The beginning of the Northern
Railway from Kankesanthurai to Chavakachcheri consisting 21
miles of the line which include Jaffna itself was opened by
me for public traffic in March 1902 and the Chavakachcheri
Palai section, which is 15 miles in length, was opened in
the following September. In little more than a year from now
it will be possible to leave Jaffna in the early morning and
be in Colombo in the evening of the same day” |
The very first locomotive to inaugurate the train service in Sri
Lanka was brought down to Colombo by the British in 1864 and it was only
thirty eight years after the first ever train service in the island that
the Northern railway line was laid to establish the link between North
and South.
As mentioned in the inaugural message of Ridgeway, the train service
had made a huge impact on the socio-economic aspects of the Northerners,
establishing their links with the people in the South for more than a
century.
Fully-fledged
It was in 1956, the fully-fledged passenger service called `Yal Devi’
began to roll between Colombo and Kankesanthurai with the high powered
engines imported from Canada.
As far as the ` Yal Devi’ train service to the North in particular
and the train services to the other parts of the country are concerned,
the Railway genius late B.D. Rampala played a magnificent role in not
only ensuring a healthy train service, but also in bringing the
countrymen together.
It was when Rampala was the General Manager of the Railways a large
number of Sri Lankans served the Railway Department irrespective of
their racial or regional differences.
There were Tamils, Sinhalese, Muslims and Burghers serving as train
controllers, station masters, engine drivers and railway guards under
the management of Rampala.
A retired station master from Jaffna referred to late Rampala saying
that the rhythm of the Lankan railway could be heard from his pulse.
“He (Ramapala) wanted the train services to be an integral part of
the people of this country. During his tenure as the General Manager of
Railways he succeeded in achieving his goals to a greater extent,” he
said.
Another icon in the Lankan Railway was General Manager the late M.
Kanagasabai who was the predecessor to Rampala and rendered an enormous
service in making the Northern line and the rest of the railway lines of
the country more vibrant and effective.
 `Yal Devi’ train service between North and South remained an
excellent mode of transport which earned a remarkable revenue for the
Railway Department not only by transporting passengers, but also by
carrying goods between North and South.
With the launching of `Yal Devi’ professionals,politicians,students
along with laymen travelled between Jaffna and Colombo in large numbers.
A train enthusiast and the late leader of the All Ceylon Tamil
Congress, Kumar Ponnambalam, who also had a huge collection of model
trains, once remembered the marvels of the `Yal Devi’ by describing the
punctuality, comfort and the purity of the catering service that was
served in style during the good old days of `Yal Devi’.
Daha and Chelva
Late Prime Minister W. Dahanayake travelled by `Yal Devi’ to Jaffna
and stayed with his friend `orator’ Subramaniam who was Principal of
Skandavarodaya College of Chunnakam and an English scholar from Jaffna.
Late Tamil leader S.J.V. Chelvanayagam also enjoyed travelling
between Jaffna and Colombo by ‘Yal Devi’ and the humble politician
always preferred to walk to his residence from Tellipalai station when
there were lifts offered to him to go by motor vehicles.
According to Director Planning of the Lankan Railways S.W. Munasinghe,
with the launch of reconstructing the Railway between Vavuniya and
Kankesanthurai by President Mahinda Rajapaksa a week ago railway tracks
have to be laid for the distance of 160 kilometres.
Fourteen big stations and twelve sub stations along with a total
number of twenty five bridges have to be reconstructed to revamp the
railway on the Northern line.
The culverts numbering 287 that existed on the Northern line have
also to be reconstructed to ensure the smooth run of the future `Yal
Devi’ services.
Munasinghe also added that when the Northern line was fully
operational four passenger services of `Yal Devi’ existed between
Colombo and Kankesanthurai daily along with two night mail train
services.
Six goods trains including an oil train were also running between
Colombo and North before the collapse of the Northern railway lines with
the removal of tracks and slippers by the LTTE for building bunkers and
other forms of their hideouts.
New beginning
It is after nearly two decades that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has
initiated the `Yal Devi’ restructuring project to bridge the socio
-economic links between the North and South.
A famous saying on the railway is that the only mode of
transportation that obtains the choicest blessings of God are the trains
as they hardly do any harm to the nature or the living beings on the
earth as they do not run through vast areas of highways and create
disturbances to the environment.
Therefore, with the launch of the ‘Yal Devi’ project, high hopes
emerge of not only putting back the much loved railway service on track,
but also on paving the pathway for peace and harmony in the country.
The writer is the grandson of late Chief Trains Controller S.
Krishnapillai of Kokuvil, Jaffna. |
