Pattipola Tunnel (Tunnel No. 18)

The Pattipola Tunnel, officially Tunnel No. 18 and also called the Summit Tunnel, is the highest railway tunnel in Sri Lanka. It carries the Main Line through the crest of the central hills just beyond Summit Level, about 3 km from Pattipola station, and is one of the timed photo stops on the Dunhinda Odyssey and Ella Odyssey tourist trains.

Tunnel No. 18 at a Glance

• Length: 321.95 m (1,056 ft), the third longest railway tunnel in the country.
• Elevation: 1,897 m (6,224 ft) at its highest point.
• Location: between Pattipola and Ohiya, on the boundary of Nuwara Eliya and Badulla districts.
• Opened: 1894, built by the contractor F. W. Faviell; the design is credited to Guilford Lindsey Molesworth, the first director-general of Ceylon Railways.

History

The tunnel opened in 1894 as the Main Line was pushed east from Nanu Oya over the hills towards Haputale and the Uva valleys. In January 1951 its concrete lining collapsed, a failure attributed to the heavy Garratt locomotives then working the line. Permanent repairs were finished in March 1951, and when the tunnel was renovated in 1981 the concrete arches installed after the collapse were removed.

Not the Longest Tunnel

Tunnel No. 18 is often confused with the Poolbank (Singha Malai) Tunnel, officially No. 14, between Hatton and Kotagala. At about 562 m that one is far longer; No. 18 is the highest.

Seeing It from the Train

The Odyssey trains pause at the tunnel for about three minutes. Regular trains run straight through. In either case, the moment of darkness is short, and the portals are framed by the cold, misty grassland of the summit. Keep heads and arms inside the carriage: clearances at tunnel mouths are tight.