Local people often walk along the railway tracks

Figures walking on railway track — People walking on the tracks

A single railway track stretches out below me, looking remarkably indifferent to its own existence. The iron skeleton of the railway system here in Sri Lanka was largely assembled during the British colonial era. Its original purpose was, apparently, to efficiently transport coffee and tea from these highlands to the port of Colombo for export. While there is a certain romantic elegance in the notion of a "Tea Express," the actual iron path is utterly unsociable—hushed and brooding as it risks being swallowed by the humid, tropical greenery.

As I idly watched the track, a few figures emerged from a distant curve, strolling toward me with an air of complete nonchalance. In the city of Kandy, walking along the railway line is by no means a noteworthy event. In fact, I am beginning to suspect that the number of times human feet step over these sleepers vastly outnumbers the instances of a train actually passing by. For the better part of the day, the national rail system seems to function primarily as a public sidewalk. If one were to do the math, the hours claimed by pedestrians surely exceed those claimed by locomotives. This ambiguity makes me wonder: is it truly a railroad, or merely a "walking path with iron trimmings"?

Walking on a railway is not only hard on one's soles but inherently dangerous, yet the locals seem entirely unbothered. It is said that the spacing of the sleepers was designed with a total lack of consideration for the human gait—and indeed, I found it dreadfully difficult to navigate—but they tread upon the gravel with practiced ease, as if such inconveniences were beneath their notice. Their expressions suggest a simple philosophy: if a train happens to appear, one simply hops to the side, and that is the end of the matter.

Kandy on Google Map

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