
Cheered by tens of thousands of people, a train decorated with banana trees and colorful flower garlands arrived in Jaffna, the capital of Sri Lanka's northern Tamil heartland, 24 years after the 'Queen of Jaffna' was suspended due to a bloody civil war.

'Yarl Devi,' as it is known in Tamil, was once a popular mode of transport between the ethnic Tamil-majority north and the Sinhala-majority south.

It was scaled back in 1990 because of the heightening of the war between the government and the Tamil Tigers, who were fighting to create an independent state for the country's ethnic minority Tamils.

24 years after the 'Queen of Jaffna' was suspended due to the civil war, the train arrives in Jaffna station in Northern Sri Lanka

Ethnic Tamil schoolgirls in Jaffa waiting for the the official ceremony to mark the resumption of the 'Queen of Jaffna' service

The service runs along a 250-mile route between Jaffna and Columbo, Sri Lanka's capital.

Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa boarded the train for the last 27 miles of the journey and opened several railroad stations along the way.

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 new track will make for a faster, smoother ride, allowing the trip to take about six hours.

'This is not just a train journey but a bridge between north and south,' Mr Rajapaksa said on board the train.

'Today what is left to us is to win over hearts and minds, healing of minds. I think this train journey today will help connect hearts and minds once again.'

The 'Queen of Jaffna' service runs along a 250-mile route between Jaffna and Columbo, Sri Lanka's capital

Sri Lankan ethnic Tamils get themselves photographed in front of the train after it arrived in Jaffna train station

All aboard: The new train is not a luxury train, although some of its coaches will have air conditioning, Internet access and televisions

Since the service stopped, Jaffna has had no trains and many of the city's children have never seen one in real life

The rebuilt railway Jaffna railway station. 24 years after it was shut down, the rail link between Jaffna and Colombo is being restored

The Sri Lankan civil war that raged since 1983 ended in 2009 when, according to a UN report, as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians were massacred in the last months of fighting.

Government troops were accused of deliberately shelling civilians, hospitals and blocking food and medical aid to hundreds of thousands of people boxed inside a tiny strip of land as the Tamil Tigers mounted their last stand.

Restoring the link is an important step, physically and symbolically, in rebuilding the country, the government says.

'In the past, it was not only a mode of transport, but it was also a cultural bridge between the Sinhalese people here and the Tamils there,' presidential spokesman Mohan Samaranayake said, adding that the project was an 'incentive to enhance communal harmony and friendship.'

But the railroad's resumption shows that the government, dominated by the majority Sinhalese, is stamping its authority on the north.

A Sri Lankan ethnic Tamil man rides a bicycle past soldiers in Jaffna as Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapake visits the town

The government says restoring the link is an important step in rebuilding the country

The Sri Lankan government has been accused of resettling Sinhalese civilians and soldiers in the north to break up the ethnic Tamil dominance of the area, and some believe resuming the rail line will speed up that process

President Mahinda Rajapakse raises both hands to acknowledge the cheers at the rebuilt Jaffna station

Deep wounds have been left by the war, which took at least 100,000 lives on both sides over more than 25 years, according to conservative estimates by the UN, though the death toll is suspected to be much higher.

Mr Rajapaksa's government has resisted intense pressure from abroad to investigate war crimes allegedly committed during the civil war.

It has also been accused of resettling Sinhalese civilians and soldiers in the north to break up the ethnic Tamil dominance of the area, and some believe resuming the rail line will speed up that process.

The train holds significant symbolic importance. Before the war, it not only was the most convenient way to travel between the two important cities, but also was a symbol of unity between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority.

At the time, Tamils dominated bureaucratic and state service posts, and many civil servants based in Colombo used it to visit friends and family in the north.

The Sri Lankan president boarded the train for the last 43 kilometers of the journey and opened several railroad stations along the way

Many Tamils feel such infrastructure projects won't bring true national unity. In January 1985, rebels blew up the train, killing 22 soldiers and 11 civilians and wounding 44 other people, in the single-biggest attack on the military at the time

'We took the train to Jaffna for weekends and came back by the same on Sunday evenings,' said Karuna Navaratnam, a 69-year-old retired teacher, who travelled on the route frequently in the 1970s.

Now settled in Colombo, Navaratnam wistfully recalled the train traveling through the rice paddies and farms on its way to Jaffna, which was once the seat of a Tamil kingdom before it was colonised in turn by the Portuguese, Dutch and British.

Navaratnam remembered people from her village standing on the station platform each weekend to welcome home relatives and loved ones.

When the war erupted in 1983, the train was a main artery in Sri Lanka's commerce, transporting fish from the north to the capital, and connecting the islanders regardless of ethnic identity.

In January 1985, rebels blew up the train, killing 22 soldiers and 11 civilians and wounding 44 other people, in the single-biggest attack on the military at the time.The train was shut down in 1990 as rebels stepped up attacks in the north to push for their own independent state.

During the war, both sides attached immense strategic and symbolic importance to capturing and holding key access roads to Jaffna, including the railroad and the parallel A9 highway, dubbed 'the highway of death' for the many lives lost in battles over its control. That highway has since been restored.

Since the service stopped, Jaffna has had no trains, meaning many of the city's children have never seen one in real life.

A day ahead of its formal reopening, Sri Lankan special forces keep watch at the rebuilt railway station in Jaffna

Looking towards the future: Despite lingering issues, the railroad may well move the country toward greater unity, an analyst said

Since the service stopped, Jaffna has had no trains, meaning many of the city's children have never seen one in real life

'Some younger people here do not know what a train is. I know its value,' said 50-year-old R. Thiyagarajah, who hopes the train will help boost Jaffna's economy through tourism and cargo shipments.

However, many Tamils feel such infrastructure projects won't bring true national unity.

'The people welcome this because they have transport difficulties, but they also think it is the military that will benefit from this more,' said Shanmuganathan Sajeevan, an activist campaigning for the return of private property seized from Tamils by the military during the war.

'Despite lingering issues, the railroad may well move the country toward greater unity,' said Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu, an analyst with the independent Center for Policy Alternatives in Colombo.