More than two decades after its destruction in Sri Lanka’s civil war, the rail link between the capital Colombo and the northern city of Jaffna re-opened on Monday amid hopes that it will give a boost to reconciliation efforts. Sri Lankans excitedly crowded into Jaffna station to welcome the blue train ‘Yaal Devi’ (Jaffna Queen), heavily garlanded with flowers, the first to arrive in the city since July 1990. Many younger residents had never seen a train before. ‘This is not just another journey, this is a bridge between the north and south,’ said President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who boarded the Chinese-built train for the final 38 km of its journey to Jaffna.