Fair price guide
Do you know what the Kandy to Ella train really costs?
Blue carriages, open doorways and tea country sliding past at walking pace. The ride from Kandy to Ella earns its reputation. The ticket should not cost what the touts say it does.
The fair price
LKR 1,500–4,000
for a reserved seat booked directly
The hill-country train is the most hyped journey in the country and reserved seats sell out within hours in peak season. That scarcity feeds a resale trade: tickets with a face value of about LKR 2,000 have been resold to foreigners for as much as LKR 16,000.
What you should pay
| What | Fair price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Reserved 2nd class | LKR 1,500–2,000 | Booked directly |
| 1st class or observation car | LKR 3,000–4,000 | Booked directly |
| Agent or tour-desk resale | 2–3 times face value, sometimes far more | Peak season is worst |
| Unreserved 2nd or 3rd class | A few hundred rupees | Bought at the station on the day, no seat guaranteed |
How to pay the fair price
- Reservations open 30 days ahead. Book the minute they open for December to April and July to August.
- Book on the Sri Lanka Railways seat reservation site or the Pravesha e-ticket app, or at a station counter.
- If reserved seats are gone, unreserved tickets are sold at the station on the day. Board at an earlier station for a better chance of a seat.
- Check the line is running. Services were disrupted after Cyclone Ditwah. If the official system will not sell a Kandy to Ella ticket, there is no through train that day.
- A shorter stretch such as Nanu Oya to Ella has the best scenery and is easier to get seats on.
Red flags
- Anyone outside a station offering reserved tickets for today or tomorrow.
- A ticket with someone else's name or passport number on it.
- Prices quoted in euros or dollars at several times the rupee fare.
Related scam: Train ticket resale. Reserved seats on the hill-country line sell out within hours. Resellers buy them up and sell them on to foreigners at many times the face value. Colombo Fort, Kandy and Ella stations are the main places it happens.
See what the whole trip should cost
Choose your dates and what you love. The planner draws the route, counts the hours on the road and prices it fairly.