Ampara Railway Station? Find Out the Facts..

Many commuters, especially for long distances, prefer train travel for economical reasons and provides a different experience as compared to other modes of transportation.

However, the railway network in Sri Lanka is not covering all parts of the island. Ampara is one such area, where railway lines have not yet been built. In such a background, an image is being shared on social media circles claiming to be the Ampara Railway Station.

Let’s have a look at the claims first

Social Media Posts

Viral social media posts were shared among users in Sri Lanka, in which images depicted a railway station with the name board station “AMPARA RAILWAY STATION” in Sinhala, Tamil & English resembling an actual train station in Sri Lanka.

Facebook | Archived

We also noticed that these set of images were viral among Facebook users for from time to time, during past few years as well.

Fact Check

We first searched whether the mainstream media had reported on the operation of a railway station in Ampara. But we couldn’t find any such report recently, however, we noticed a number of reports relating to 2013.

Hence, we inquired from the railway department regarding these claims and they also confirmed that there isn’t any train network operation in the entire Ampara district let alone a railway station at Ampara.

The railway map of Sri Lanka can be seen here | Archived , which also shows that there aren't any railroads to Ampara.

After that, we did a reverse image search on the photos that were viral in social media. There we came across a replica of a train station and a short railway track for a public exhibition called "Deyata Kirula" which had been setup in Ampara back in 2013.

foursquare.com | Archived

And we noticed the same photos being used in few Facebook posts from 2013, during the “Deyata Kirula” exhibition period in Ampara as seen here

We also noticed a detailed article in Lankadeepa newspaper, written by Saman Dissanayake, a journalist from Ampara district, regarding the 2013 Deyata Kirula exhibition. The article can be read from here .Archived

Journalist Saman Dissanayake

We asked journalist Saman Dissanayake if such a railway station was built in the 2013 Deyata Kirula exhibition in Ampara and what was the current status of this station and rail roads.

He said that back in 2013, this construction was done in the land where the Deyata Kirula exhibition was held. But a long railway line was not found there and a short distance railroad of about 500 meters was temporarily constructed and a building had been set up resembling a railway station. He added that 2 railway carriages and an engine were used for this short distance train travel to facilitate the visitors to the exhibition ground. He said that the tickets were also issued symbolically and were also given to those who travelled from this model train.

“But, since then, no attempt was made to extend this temporarily constructed railway line or to develop it as a permanent railway line, and now the building is discarded and no railway lines are visible,” he said. He also said that there is no train running in Ampara district at present.

Below is the locomotive that ran in this temporary railway line during the period of Deyata Kirula back in 2013.

P1 530 on Deyata Kirula Exhibition at Oyamaduwa in 22.01.2012 on Flickriver

Archived

Ampara Hardy Advanced Technical Institute

"Deyata Kirula" 2013 exhibition was held in the land belonging to Ampara Hardy Advanced Technical Institute.

We also contacted a spokesman from the Hardy Technical Institute about the condition of the railway station buildings constructed for the Deyata Kirula exhibition. He said that the name boards related to the railway station and railway line are not visible now and the building alone is seen now yet in a very dilapidated condition.

He also provided us with a collection of photos showing the current situation of the temporary Railways Station built in 2013 and its surroundings as seen below.

We also noticed another image of a Railway Station claiming to be Ampara Railway Station as seen below.

Facebook | Archived

However, reverse image search results proved this image to be an edited version of the Mihintale Railway Junction at Anuradhapura. The image had been captured during the Poson season in 2015, during which a free train shuttle service, titled “Poson Sadhaham Vandana” , was offered by Etisalat Lanka. This free train service operated between Anuradhapura and Mihintale, and the Daily Mirror report with the original image of Mihintale Junction, can be seen below.

DailyMirror | Archived

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Conclusion

During our investigation, it was confirmed that there isn’t any railway station at Ampara at present nor railroad network connecting to Ampara district. The viral collection of photos was taken back in 2013 when a temporary railway station and a short distance railroad was constructed for the Deyata Kirula – Ampara exhibition in 2013.

However, these temporary rail roads were removed later and the deserted building alone can be seen now in a dilapidated condition.