COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The “Queen of Jaffna,” a once-popular train linking the ethnic Tamil’s northern heartland to the rest of Sri Lanka before a civil war cut the link 24 years ago, chugs back into service this week.
For the old, it is a nostalgic piece of the Indian Ocean island nation’s past. For the young, the train opens opportunities to explore the north.
The resumption of the “Yarl Devi,” as it is known in Tamil, marks a step toward restoring national unity five years after the Tamil separatists were defeated to end the long war.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa will inaugurate service along the 250-mile route between Jaffna and Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, in a ceremony Monday.
Like the old version, the new “Queen of Jaffna” is not a luxury train, although some of its coaches will have air conditioning, Internet access and televisions.
The line was shut down in 1990 as militants from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam stepped up attacks in the north to push for independence. Since the service stopped, Jaffna has had no trains, meaning many of its children have never seen one in real life.
“Some younger people here do not know what a train is. I know its value,” said R. Thiyagarajah, 50, who hopes the train will help boost Jaffna’s economy.
