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Where Ella's railway stands after Cyclone Ditwah — the suspended Kandy line, the service that is back, and the Nine Arches Bridge crossings.
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The Nine Arches Bridge and the scenic train are why most people come to Ella, so the most common question is simply: is the train running? The short answer in mid-2026 is partly. The full Kandy–Ella line is still down after Cyclone Ditwah; a shorter service through Ella is back, and as of June 2026 it reaches a little further up the hills. Here is where each part stands.
Suspended since late November 2025 after Cyclone Ditwah. Restoration was framed as 'at least 18 months'; as of April 2026, 92 of 97 damaged sites were repaired and the line to Kandy is expected to reopen by the end of 2026.
This is the famous upcountry leg through Hatton, Nanu Oya and Ella that travellers usually ride from Kandy. The through service is not running. Landslides and washouts after the cyclone closed the line, and repairs to the Kandy side are still under way through 2026.
If you were planning to reach Ella by train from Kandy, that is not currently possible — people are arriving by road instead and joining the train lower down. There has been real progress: in late April 2026 the Deputy Transport Minister said 92 of 97 major damaged sites on the Colombo–Badulla line had been repaired and that trains should reach Kandy by the end of the year. Treat any single reopening date as provisional; the timeline has shifted more than once since the cyclone.
Began as an Ambewela–Badulla service via Ella on 1 January 2026; extended to start from Nanu Oya on 20 June 2026 (trial run 17 June). Two trains each way call at Ella on a normal day. The Rambukkana–Nanu Oya section toward Kandy is still under repair.
While the Kandy leg is closed, trains still pass through Ella on a shorter stretch lower down the line. This started in January 2026 as an Ambewela–Badulla service, and on 20 June 2026 it was extended to begin from Nanu Oya — the station for Nuwara Eliya — after a successful trial run on 17 June. From there the train runs down through Ella to Badulla.
This is the train you can currently catch at Ella station. It runs to a special timetable published on 18 June 2026 and effective from 20 June, and there is no official English version of it: Sri Lanka Railways issued the notice in Sinhala and Tamil only, its own schedule page says it is under development, and its e-services timetable search no longer loads at all. Ella's departures are set out in full, both directions, on this site's Nine Arches crossing page. Confirm at the station the day before, and treat any older timetable as superseded. Reserved seats on the popular runs can still sell out ahead, and resellers buy them the moment they release — book through the official channels.
Trains still cross the bridge as part of the Nanu Oya–Badulla service — four a day, two each way — on the special timetable effective 20 June 2026. Crossing windows are derived from the published Ella and Demodara departure times; the Sri Lanka Railways hotline is 1971.
The bridge itself is open to walk to at any time, with no entrance fee — the question people really ask is when a train will cross for the photo.
That is now answered on this site's Nine Arches crossing page, worked out from the published timetable. It gives a window rather than a single time, and deliberately so: the bridge sits on the line between Ella and Demodara, the notice publishes a departure time at each station, and a train passes somewhere between the two. Be at the bridge by the earlier of them. Four trains cross on a normal day, two each way.
Trains on this line often run late, so allow margin — and this is a working railway, not a viewpoint: be off the track and off the bridge well before the window opens. The access trail down to the best viewpoint is steep and gets muddy in wet weather.
July 1918
Ella station opens
Ella joined the national rail network when the upcountry line reached the town; the line was completed to Badulla in 1921, the same period the Nine Arches Bridge was built.
Late November 2025
Cyclone Ditwah damages the line
The cyclone caused widespread landslides and washouts across Sri Lanka's railway network, including the upcountry main line, and the Kandy–Ella–Badulla service was suspended.
December 2025
"At least 18 months" for full restoration
The Deputy Transport Minister set expectations that fully restoring the line would take at least 18 months. Sri Lanka Railways began a phased recovery, and the NBRO cleared the Badulla–Ambewela section on 16 December 2025.
1 January 2026
Shorter Ambewela–Badulla service resumes
A regional service through Ella between Ambewela and Badulla was reintroduced, restoring some train access to the town while the Kandy leg stays closed.
20 June 2026
Service extended up to Nanu Oya
After a trial run on 17 June, the service was extended to start from Nanu Oya (the station for Nuwara Eliya), reaching a little further up the line. The Rambukkana–Nanu Oya section toward Kandy remains under repair, expected to reopen by the end of 2026.
July 1918
Ella station opens
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