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The '''Ceylon Government Railway'''(CGR) was established by the British Colonial Government in 1864. The main reason for building a railway system in Ceylon was to transport tea and coffee from the hill country to Colombo. The railway was totally independent of the Indian Railway system.<ref> [http://www.railway.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=137&Itemid=181&lang=en Sri Lanka Government "Railways/History"];. Retrieved on 2 January 2016</ref>. Initially the service began with the mainline of 54 kilometres connecting Colombo and Ambepussa <ref name=wiki>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Railways Wikipedia "Sri Lanka Railways"]; Retrieved 13 Dec 2017</ref>. The [[Colombo Port Railways, Ceylon|'Colombo Port']] was established in 1875 and connected to the CGR mainline [[Colombo Port Railways, Ceylon|''see separate page for information'']]

Initially the service began with the Main Line of 54 kilometres connecting Colombo and Ambepussa. Extensions were made to the main line in 1867, 1874, 1885, 1894 and 1924, extending its service to Kandy, Nawalapitiya, Nanu Oya,Bandarawela and Badulla, respectively. Many other railway lines were added to Ceylon Railway System within the first century of its life, such as a line to Matale in 1880, Coast Railway Line in 1895, Northern Line in 1905, Mannar Line in 1914, Kelani Valley in 1919, Puttalam Line in 1926, and Railway Line railway line to Batticaloa and Trincomalee in 1928. <ref name==External Links==*[https:wiki//en>.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Railways “Sri Lanka Railways” ] Wikipedia