Sri Lanka launches a new daily train for schoolchildren — a quiet comeback after the cyclone

Schoolchildren in central Sri Lanka have a new morning routine starting today. Sri Lanka Railways has launched a new daily passenger train between Polgahawela and Peradeniya, designed around the students and commuters who depend on the rails for everyday life — getting to class, to work, to appointments and to family. It comes just ten days after the Upcountry line's Rambukkana–Gampola stretch reopened following disruption from Cyclone Ditwah, when heavy rains knocked parts of the mountain railway out of service. The new service is not a tourist train or a grand showcase: it is a practical, everyday timetable added so regular travellers have one more reliable option while the full corridor keeps recovering.