Demodara Nine Spiral Loop
A remarkable spiral railway where the line loops over itself and the train emerges from a tunnel directly beneath Demodara station, an old engineering fix for the steep mountain gradient.
Near the small highland town of Demodara, just a short distance from Ella, one of Sri Lanka's most fascinating pieces of colonial railway engineering solves a problem that seemed, at the time, nearly impossible. When British engineers extended the railway line toward Badulla in the early 20th century, they hit the steep hills of Demodara, terrain too severe for the Ceylon Government Railway's maximum permitted gradient of one foot per 44 feet. The solution, credited to Sri Lankan engineer D.J. Wimalasurendra, later celebrated as the father of hydroelectric power in Sri Lanka, was a spiral loop roughly 441 feet long, the track curling around a hillside and passing directly beneath Demodara station through a tunnel, allowing trains to gain elevation gradually within an impossibly tight space.
Local legend offers a genuinely charming origin story for the design, popular telling holds that Wimalasurendra was inspired by watching a tea estate supervisor, or in some versions a local farmer, untie and retie his turban, the winding folds of cloth sparking the idea for a track that loops upon itself rather than climbing in a straight line. Completed and commissioned in 1921, with the loop itself finished by 1923, the achievement was significant enough that it's since been honored in a commemorative postage stamp series titled Civil Engineering Marvels of Sri Lanka Railways, sharing billing with the nearby Nine Arch Bridge on a set of rare diamond shaped stamps.
Sitting at 912.5 meters above sea level, the loop stands alongside other famous railway spirals worldwide, including the Tehachapi Loop in California and the Septemvri-Dobrinishte Loop in Bulgaria, and visitors today can experience it firsthand by riding the short stretch of track from Ella to Demodara, watching from the station platform as the train emerges from the tunnel below and curves gracefully up through the spiral, a genuinely quiet, uncrowded alternative to the busier main Kandy-Ella railway segment nearby.
At a glance
- Entry fee: Free
- Opening hours: Open all day
- Time needed: About 1 hour
- Best time: Around a scheduled train time, to watch it spiral through
Getting there
At Demodara, about 7km from Ella on the Badulla road, a short tuk-tuk ride or a stop on the train itself.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does it cost to visit Demodara Nine Spiral Loop?
- Free.
- What are the opening hours at Demodara Nine Spiral Loop?
- Open all day.
- How long should I spend at Demodara Nine Spiral Loop?
- Plan for about 1 hour.
- When is the best time to visit Demodara Nine Spiral Loop?
- Around a scheduled train time, to watch it spiral through.
- How do I get to Demodara Nine Spiral Loop?
- At Demodara, about 7km from Ella on the Badulla road, a short tuk-tuk ride or a stop on the train itself.