# The Colombo to Galle train

*Two and a half hours beside the Indian Ocean, for a dollar or two*

Published 16 September 2026 · last checked 16 September 2026 · https://srilankatour.travel/guides/colombo-to-galle-train

The hill country line is the famous one and it is half shut. This one is not. The coastal railway from Colombo Fort to Galle came through Cyclone Ditwah untouched, it runs all day, and for a long stretch south of Kalutara the track sits on the sand with the surf a few metres away. It is also unreserved, crowded at the wrong hours, and slower than the expressway. Here is the whole picture.

## Key facts

- **Distance:** About 115 km by rail, Colombo Fort to Galle
- **Journey time:** 2 h 10 to 3 h 40; most expresses about 2 h 30
- **Fares:** LKR 240 third class, LKR 500 second (US$0.75 / US$1.50)
- **Classes:** Almost all unreserved 2nd and 3rd; one daily train has reserved 1st
- **Which side:** Right-hand side going south to Galle
- **Best stretch:** South of Kalutara — the line runs on the sand
- **Checked:** 16 September 2026

## What the journey is actually like

Colombo Fort to Galle is about 115 km of railway — sources put it at 114 to 116 — and takes anywhere between 2 h 10 and 3 h 40, depending entirely on which train you board. The quick expresses do it in a little over two hours; the ones that stop everywhere take half as long again. Seat61, updated on 10 June 2026, puts the typical run at about two and a half hours, which matches what we see.

The first forty minutes are not the reason you came. Out of Fort the line runs through Slave Island, Bambalapitiya and Wellawatte — dense, grey, a level crossing every few hundred metres — and the sea appears in gaps between buildings. It opens up around Mount Lavinia, where the track runs along the back of the beach, and from there it comes and goes pleasantly as far as Kalutara.

South of Kalutara is the part worth staying awake for. Between Kalutara and Aluthgama the line runs on a narrow strip between the ocean and the lagoon, sometimes with nothing between the rails and the surf but a few metres of sand and a coconut palm. It stays near the water through Bentota, Ambalangoda and Hikkaduwa, then swings inland for the last few minutes into Galle. Time in genuinely good scenery: about an hour and a quarter.

> **Which side to sit on:** Going south to Galle the sea is on the right; Seat61 agrees that the coastal side is the right-hand side. The trick it recommends is worth repeating: most Galle and Matara trains start at Colombo Maradana ten to twenty-five minutes before calling at Fort, so board at Maradana and you can usually take a right-hand window. Coming back north, sit on the left.

Places on the line:
- [Colombo](https://srilankatour.travel/places/colombo)
- [Kalutara](https://srilankatour.travel/places/kalutara)
- [Bentota](https://srilankatour.travel/places/bentota)
- [Hikkaduwa](https://srilankatour.travel/places/hikkaduwa)

## Which train, and when to leave

There are ten or eleven southbound departures a day. The named expresses are the ones to aim for — Rajarata Rajini, Galu Kumari, Ruhunu Kumari, Sagarika and Samudra Devi — and they are the fast ones. The unnamed morning and evening services take longer because they stop at every halt on the coast.

- 06:50 from Colombo Fort, daily, arriving Galle around 09:30 and continuing to Beliatta. The earliest sensible departure, and the one to take if you want the whole day in Galle.
- 10:30 from Colombo Fort, daily — the Rajarata Rajini, which has come down from Anuradhapura since half past five in the morning. Roughly 2 h 20 to Galle.
- 14:40 from Colombo Fort, daily — the Galu Kumari, one of the modern Chinese-built sets, into Galle for about five in the afternoon.
- 15:50 from Colombo Fort, daily — the Ruhunu Kumari, the fastest of the lot at around 2 h 10, running through to Matara.
- There is also an 08:35 that has historically started from Kandy at five in the morning. The Colombo–Kandy line is still closed for cyclone repairs, so do not count on that one until you see it on the departure board.

These times come from traintimetable.lk in January 2025 and Seat61's June 2026 update, and the two agree within a few minutes. Sri Lanka Railways adjusts the coastal timetable without ceremony, so treat them as a shape and check the board at Fort. Twenty minutes late is normal; an hour is not unusual on a Friday.

## Tickets, classes and what they cost

The thing most travellers get wrong about the coastal line is that it is not the hill country train. There is almost nothing to book. Nearly every service to Galle carries unreserved second and third class only, sold at the counter on the day, and they cannot sell out — if the seats are gone, people stand.

| Class | Fare | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Third class unreserved | LKR 240 (about US$0.75) | Bench seats, doors wide open, the most crowded and the most fun |
| Second class unreserved | LKR 500 (about US$1.50) | Padded seats, fans, opening windows. The sensible default |
| First class reserved | LKR 1,100 (about US$3.35) | One afternoon train a day, booked ahead. A guaranteed seat rather than a better view |

*One-way adult fares, Colombo Fort to Galle, as published by Seat61 on 10 June 2026. Dollar figures throughout this page use LKR 328 to the US dollar, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka mid-rate on 14 September 2026.*

Those are the only figures we will publish. Sri Lanka Railways has no clean public fare table for station pairs, its own calculator at ticketfare.railway.gov.lk is often unreachable from abroad, and third-party tools disagree by a hundred rupees. We quote 240 and 500 because two independent sources match. Anything priced in dollars on a booking site includes a service fee.

The reserved first-class seat on the one train that has one is booked through the official portal at seatreservation.railway.gov.lk, which opens thirty days before departure. For everything else, walk to the counter at Colombo Fort, say Galle, say second or third, and pay in rupees. Ten minutes before departure is enough on a quiet weekday; half an hour is safer otherwise.

### How crowded, and when

From about 06:30 to 09:00 northbound and 16:00 to 19:00 southbound this is a commuter railway, and second class can be standing room from Fort. The middle of the day is calm. Weekends and poya days are the ones to plan around — the full-moon holiday sends Sri Lankan families to the coast and the aisles fill by Moratuwa. With luggage, take a midday express and board at Maradana.

> **Check on the day:** Fares and times here change without announcement, and every figure above carries the date we checked it. If you are reading this well after 16 September 2026, confirm at the counter before building a day around a departure.

## Where to get off

Galle station sits a few hundred metres from the Fort's main gate — a ten to fifteen minute walk to most places inside the walls, flat the whole way, and fine with a wheeled bag. Tuk-tuks outside ask around LKR 500 for the five-minute ride, which is a tourist price rather than a scandal and worth it in the midday heat. Galle is a terminus, so trains continuing to Matara reverse out of the station and the sea changes sides.

- Hikkaduwa — the last stop before Galle, a few minutes from the surf and the reef. Get off here rather than at Galle if the beach is the point.
- Unawatuna — there is a station of that name, one stop beyond Galle, but only a handful of slow local trains call there. Almost everyone rides to Galle and takes a tuk-tuk the five kilometres round the headland instead.
- Weligama and Mirissa — twenty-five to forty minutes beyond Galle on the Matara trains. Weligama station is a short walk from the bay; Mirissa's wants a tuk-tuk.
- Matara — the end of the old line, about an hour past Galle, and the junction for the newer extension to Beliatta.

Where the line goes:
- [Galle](https://srilankatour.travel/places/galle)
- [Hikkaduwa](https://srilankatour.travel/places/hikkaduwa)
- [Unawatuna](https://srilankatour.travel/places/unawatuna)
- [Weligama](https://srilankatour.travel/places/weligama)
- [Mirissa](https://srilankatour.travel/places/mirissa)

## The alternatives, honestly

### The expressway bus

The fastest public option, and it does not leave from the middle of Colombo. Air-conditioned coaches run down the E01 from the Makumbura Multimodal Centre at Kottawa, on the south-eastern edge of the city, every twenty to thirty minutes from about half past five in the morning. The National Transport Commission fare for route EX01, Makumbura to Galle, is LKR 930 — about US$2.85 — under the revision effective 6 July 2026. No official body publishes a journey time; the timetable sites that do put it at 1 h 20 to 1 h 45. Getting out to Makumbura is the catch, and it turns a ninety-minute ride into a three-hour morning.

> **Take the Galle bus, not the Matara bus:** The EX01 services to Matara, Tangalle and Kataragama leave the expressway further south at Godagama and do not enter Galle town; only the EX01 Galle service comes off at Pinnaduwa. And whatever a timetable site tells you, the July 2026 NTC register has no expressway bus to Galle from Fort or Pettah. The southern services moved out to Makumbura in 2019.

### A car with a driver

Via the E03 and E01 expressways, Colombo to Galle is about two hours door to door and the airport to Galle about two and a half for 160 km. It is the only option that ends at your hotel gate rather than a station, and the only one that works at four in the morning. Our house figure for a car with a driver is US$55–100 a day including fuel and the driver's board; a one-way transfer is priced separately, so ask rather than assume. The downside is that you see the expressway, which is a well-built road through scrub, and none of the coast.

### Straight from the airport

By rail this is awkward. Bandaranaike airport is on the northern line and Galle on the southern one, so you would ride into Colombo, change at Fort or Maradana and pick up a coastal service — most of a day, with bags. By bus it now works: Airport and Aviation Services runs an air-conditioned coach from the arrivals outer porch to Makumbura for LKR 410 in about fifty minutes, roughly every forty-five minutes from 05:15 to 18:30, restarted on 1 June 2026 after a long suspension. With the EX01 on top that is LKR 1,340, around US$4.10, and the whole thing hangs on the connection at Makumbura.

See also:
- [Getting around Sri Lanka](https://srilankatour.travel/guides/getting-around-sri-lanka)
- [The south coast](https://srilankatour.travel/guides/south-sri-lanka)

## Colombo to Galle, compared

| Option | Time | Rough cost | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Train, second class | 2 h 10 – 3 h 40 | LKR 500 (US$1.50) | The view. Unreserved, so board at Maradana for a right-hand seat |
| Train, third class | 2 h 10 – 3 h 40 | LKR 240 (US$0.75) | Open doors, hard seats, often standing |
| Expressway bus from Makumbura | 1 h 20 – 1 h 45, plus the run out to Kottawa | LKR 930 (US$2.85) | Fast, air-conditioned, frequent. Getting to Kottawa is the weak link |
| Car with driver | About 2 h from Colombo, 2 h 30 from the airport | Ask for a transfer price; day hire is US$55–100 | Door to door, works at any hour, no coast |
| Ordinary bus down the Galle Road | 2 h 30 – 3 h 30 | LKR 496, or LKR 970 air-conditioned | Cheapest and slowest. Every village, every time |

*Checked 16 September 2026. Bus fares are the National Transport Commission's, effective 6 July 2026; no official body publishes journey times for the buses, so those are third-party figures.*

Our own advice is unromantic. Heading south at the start of a trip with luggage, take the road. Coming back north, or on any day with nothing to carry and nowhere to be by a fixed hour, take the train and sit by an open window. Do the railway in the direction where being late costs you nothing.

See also:
- [The best beaches in Sri Lanka](https://srilankatour.travel/guides/best-beaches-in-sri-lanka)
- [Galle](https://srilankatour.travel/places/galle)

## Frequently asked questions

**How long does the train from Colombo to Galle take?**

Between 2 h 10 and 3 h 40 for the 115 km, depending on the train. The named expresses — Ruhunu Kumari, Galu Kumari, Rajarata Rajini — take a little over two hours. The unnamed services that stop at every coastal halt take three and a half. Most travellers should plan on about two and a half hours, plus twenty minutes of delay.

**How much is a train ticket from Colombo to Galle?**

LKR 240 in third class and LKR 500 in second class one way, which is roughly US$0.75 and US$1.50 at the mid-September 2026 rate of about LKR 328 to the dollar. The single daily train with a reserved first-class car charges LKR 1,100. These figures are from Seat61's 10 June 2026 update and are matched by traintimetable.lk.

**Do I need to book the Colombo to Galle train in advance?**

Almost never. Nearly all coastal services carry unreserved second and third class only, sold at the station counter on the day of travel, and they cannot sell out. Only one train a day has a reserved first-class car, bookable thirty days ahead through the official portal at seatreservation.railway.gov.lk. For everything else, buy at the counter and board.

**Which side of the train has the sea view to Galle?**

The right-hand side going south from Colombo to Galle, and the left-hand side coming back north. The best stretch is south of Kalutara, where the track runs on a narrow strip of sand between the ocean and the lagoon. Most southbound trains start at Colombo Maradana before calling at Fort, so boarding at Maradana gives you a real chance of a right-hand window.

**When is the first train from Colombo Fort to Galle?**

The first daily departure leaves Colombo Fort at about 06:50 and reaches Galle around 09:30, continuing to Beliatta. There is an earlier 06:05 on weekends and holidays. The last useful departure is in the evening, arriving late. Sri Lanka Railways changes coastal times without notice, so confirm at the station on the day.

**How do I get from Colombo airport to Galle?**

Not by rail. The airport is on the northern line and Galle on the southern one, so the train needs a change at Colombo Fort or Maradana and most of a day. A car via the E03 and E01 expressways covers the 160 km in about two and a half hours. By bus, take the airport coach to Makumbura for LKR 410, about fifty minutes, then the EX01 to Galle for LKR 930.

**Is the Colombo to Galle line affected by the cyclone damage?**

No. Cyclone Ditwah wrecked the hill country line in late 2025 and repairs there are still unfinished, but the coastal line from Colombo Fort through Kalutara, Bentota and Hikkaduwa to Galle and Matara was not damaged and has run normally throughout. It is the reliable train journey in Sri Lanka at the moment, checked on 16 September 2026.


---

Source: https://srilankatour.travel/guides/colombo-to-galle-train
Published by Sri Lanka Journeys, operated by Clever Hub (Private) Limited (Sri Lanka company no. PV00308620).
Enquiries: info@srilankatour.travel · +94 77 793 6904 (phone and WhatsApp).