The Blue Train: Riding Sri Lanka's Most Beautiful Railway

Nine Hours of Moving Meditation

The train from Kandy to Ella is often called the most beautiful railway journey in the world. It's a bold claim — but after nine hours of winding through tea-carpeted mountains, crossing century-old viaducts, and watching the landscape shift from tropical lowland to misty highland, it's hard to argue.

What most travel guides won't tell you is that the journey itself is only half the story. The real discoveries happen at the stops between the famous stations.

The Station at Idalgashinna

While everyone crowds the platforms at Ella, we alighted at Idalgashinna — a ghost station where the platform is barely wider than the train itself. The stationmaster, surprised to see tourists, offered us tea from his personal flask.

From Idalgashinna, a 90-minute walk through eucalyptus forest brings you to a viewpoint that rivals World's End at Horton Plains — without the entrance fee or the crowds. On clear mornings, you can see all the way to the southern coast.

The Nine Arch Bridge — From Below

Everyone photographs the Nine Arch Bridge from the tea plantation above. But there's a farmer's track that leads to the valley floor below the bridge. From there, looking up as a train crosses 30 meters above your head, between arches built entirely of stone, brick, and cement — without a single steel beam — you understand the audacity of colonial-era engineering.

The bridge was completed in 1921, during the First World War, when steel was scarce. The local legend says a young Sri Lankan engineer named P.K. Appuhamy designed the arches after the British engineers declared the project impossible without steel reinforcement.

"My grandfather helped carry the stones for that bridge. He said they built it the way Sri Lankans have always built — with patience and with faith that the arch would hold." — Local resident, Demodara

Practical Notes

• Book early: The observation car sells out months in advance. Second class is perfectly comfortable and the windows open fully for photography.
• Board at Peradeniya: Instead of the chaos of Kandy station, board one stop later at Peradeniya Junction. You'll have better seat selection.
• Pack food: The train vendors sell basic snacks, but a packed lunch from your guesthouse is worth the effort.
• Sit right: For the best views, sit on the right side when traveling from Kandy to Ella.

The blue train doesn't just take you through the mountains. It takes you back in time — to an era when the journey mattered as much as the destination.