The other main railway in Peru is the Ferrocarriles del Sur Peru – the 380-km long passenger line to Cusco (or Cuzco) and on to Lake Titicaca, which is to 914 mm gauge (the majority of PeruRail’s lines are to 1435 mm Standard gauge).
There is in addition the railway from Cusco to Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail, which also is to 914 mm gauge. This is one of the most spectacular railway journeys in the world. Closed a few years ago by landslides along the route, only part of it is open, with the rest currently suspended.
Metros and trams:
The capital city of Lima once had an extensive tram system, all to Standard gauge, and including a line that ran between Lima and Callao. The system was closed in the 1960s. A short stretch of it (8 km) was re-opened in 1997 as a tourist line.
Finally, like any good capital city, Lima has a metro. Not very large, and only recently opened, it consists of one line with 16 stations. Like the previous tram system, as well as the bulk of Peru’s main lines, it is to Standard gauge. Three more lines have been announced.
ECUADOR
If Peru is a place where the railway doesn’t belong, then Ecuador must rank as the most forbidding and hostile environment in which any railway builder might find themselves. Yet even here, railways once flourished, and still may be found to this day, though for how much longer is very much open to conjecture.
There were once three main lines, all to 1067 mm gauge. Quite why this gauge was chosen – and not, say, metre-gauge, which is much more common in Ecuador’s neighbours – is not known for sure. However, as the initial builders were American – under the direction of Col. William Findlay Shunk, who also designed the New York ‘El’ – this quite possibly accounted for the use of the Imperial, not metric, narrow gauge. As well, the first items of motive power and rolling stock were British, and the ready availability of this was probably also a factor in pointing to the use of 1067 mm gauge.
Today, only the tourist lines between Guayaquil and Quito and between Quito and Cotopaxi are in operation, though the first of these two lines is struggling to survive – natural disasters as well as lack of maintenance and investment have all contributed to its decline. This railway climbs (rather than goes around) the mountain known as La Nariz del Diablo (the Devil’s Nose), using a series of spectacular and breath-taking zig-zags, or switchbacks.
Motive power consists of Bo-Bo-Bo diesel locomotives supplied by France, as well as the occasional luxury train worked by refurbished steam engines pulling new carriages made in Spain (Tren Crucero). Derailments however are frequent, some even dangerous when they occur on the narrow mountain ledges (although perhaps less frequent or dangerous than before, now that much of the trackwork has been refurbished), and a trip on this railway is not for the faint-hearted!
Some other shorter stretches of line are also open elsewhere in the country, but only to freight traffic.
Ecuador has announced a program of rehabilitation and even expansion for its railways, citing their strategic value as both freight lines and tourist attractions. The line from Guayaquil to Duran was opened in 2014 to cater to the public.
SURINAME AND FRENCH GUIANA
Suriname, formerly known as Dutch Guiana, saw its first railway in the late 1890s, although this was a private sugar cane line. The first public railway opened around ten years later, and was built to metre-gauge. This gauge was chosen to match that proposed in French Guiana next door to the south.
In the event, no public railways were built in French Guiana, although there is a short railway within the Guiana Space Centre, believed to be to Standard gauge.
Suriname’s railway ran for fifty years, at which point it closed when both new development of Paramaibo and a new dam took away most of its route.
GUYANA
Guyana, once called British Guiana, lays claim to having the very first railway in South America, opened in 1848. It closed in 1970. It was built to Standard gauge. There was also an electric street railway built to Standard gauge, between Georgetown and Demerera. That too closed, in 1930.
There was a metre-gauge industrial railway, but that also closed, and there are currently no operating railways in Guyana.
VENEZUELA
Railways arrived in Venezuela in 1877, when a narrow gauge line opened. It was built to 914 mm gauge. Other lines opened to a number of other gauges – 680 mm, 750 mm and 1067 mm.
However, all the subsequent main lines were built to 1435 mm Standard gauge. Currently there are around 800 km of such lines open to the public, although passenger service now runs only on the electrified line between Caracas and Cúa. A massive program of renovation and expansion is underway, with a planned route distance total of 13 000 km by 2030, although delays are rampant, and progress so far is falling well below that originally planned.
With the country’s shattered economy due to the low price of oil in 2015 and beyond, any meaningful new investment in Venezuela’s railways may well be at risk. Having said that, a new 470-km long twin track Standard gauge line between Tinaco and Anaco is now open, fully electrified. Although primarily for freight, it will also be used to transport oil workers and farmers.
Four cities – Caracas, Los Teques, Maracaibo and Valencia – have a metro or light rail system. All are to Standard gauge – unlike the predominant tram system that once ran in Caracas, which was to metre-gauge. However, the Ferrocarril del Sur to El Valle and the Ferrocarril Central to Petare electrified railways used 1067 mm gauge. Parts of these lines were dual 680/1067 mm gauged.
Finally, there are some privately-owned mining lines, totalling over 5000 km, and which are to Standard gauge.
COLOMBIA
Our journey now brings us to our last country in South America, and the border with Central America – the country of Colombia. We think of Colombia as the producer of both coffee and illegal drugs, the latter involving cartels headed by various drug lords, and the target of US military incursions and crackdowns. Regardless of these activities, it is the coffee, as well as other movement of freight (especially coal), that instigated Colombia’s first railways.
Ignoring the initial railway in what is now Panama (Panama used to be part of Colombia until 1903), the first railway in Colombia arrived in 1871, and ran between Barranquilla and what was then known as Sabanilla, subsequently renamed as Puerto Salgar. The gauge it was built to is uncertain – some reports say it was built to 1067 mm gauge, which is also the gauge of Colombia’s neighbour to the south-west, Ecuador (see above). A gauge of 1080 mm has also been mooted, but this is likely to be a mis-measurement, or simply a corruption, of the 1067 mm gauge. One source also quotes a gauge of 950 mm, but there is no other reference to the use of this unusual gauge, and it is likely that this is some incorrect reporting.
However, all subsequent railway building in Colombia was to 914 mm gauge, which is also the main gauge in Colombia’s southern neighbour Peru (see above also). While most of the steam locomotives were supplied by American manufacturer Baldwin, it was more British investment that financed Colombia’s railways, especially in the 1920s. Currently there are around 2600 km of 914 mm gauge in use, as well as a further 500 km out of service. Two existing lines, totalling 1050 km, are being refurbished with UK funding.
Overall, the country is not well served by railways, and most of the country either has no railway at all, or has freight only lines. One such line is the 1435 mm Standard gauge coal line from Carrejón to the port at Puerto Bolivar, a distance of 150 km, while another runs 250 km from Santa Marta to Chiriguaná.
While these may be the only Standard gauge railways to be seen in Colombia at the moment, other Standard gauge lines may well soon appear. Once again we see the Chinese making inroads into another country’s railway network. This time though it’s not high speed passenger transportation that the Chinese are interested in, but a freight line that would be an alternative to the Panama Canal, and permit more flexible exporting of coal to China and importing of Chinese goods into Colombia. This line would be to Standard
gauge, about 220 km long, from Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast, to a port, location not yet established, on the Pacific side.
In terms of metros, Medellin, Colombia’s second largest city with a population of over 2 million, has a Standard gauge network, consisting of two lines, and opened in 1995.
The capital city Bogotá does not currently have a metro. One, a light rail/tram system 27 km long (and ultimately 60 km long), is in the planning stages, with opening originally scheduled for 2016, although various corruption issues mean that construction has yet to start (detailed planning is supposedly complete), and the opening has been rescheduled for 2021. It will of course be to Standard gauge, and parts of the initial single line will utilise an existing right-of-way.
But while Bogotá may not currently have any rail-based public transit, it did once boast an extensive tram system. Unlike anywhere else in Colombia, it was built to metre-gauge. One likely reason for using this gauge was that Venezuela also used this gauge for its tram system in Caracas (see above).
Bogotá’s tramway had a predecessor in the form of the predominantly steam-operated 914 mm gauge Ferrocarril de la Sabana, which had to be re-laid to 1000 mm gauge for the tram system.
CENTRAL AMERICA
Railways have in general not assumed too much importance, or played a great part, in the development of those countries sitting between Colombia and Mexico. They were however a little more plentiful in the past than today, where in the majority of the countries shown below, there are now usually no more than one or two lines, and handling a handful of trains a day.
Most of these Central American railways were directed towards the movement of freight (especially fruit), although there was a reasonable amount of passenger traffic until cheap and frequent buses made rail journeys less attractive.
PANAMA
This narrow country is of course famous for its Canal, and here the railway assumes its major importance, for it is used to tow ships through the Canal, using what are known as mules.
The first railway was opened in 1855, to 1524 mm gauge, and provided the first direct access between the two coasts, using more or less the route of the subsequent Canal that had yet to be built. It later became part of the Canal infrastructure. This railway exists to this day, still towing ships through the Canal, and is to the same 1524 mm gauge.
Paralleling the Canal is the only main-line railway in Panama, between Panama City and Colón, which carries both freight and passenger traffic along its 77 km route distance. This railway also used to be to 1524 mm gauge – both railways were influenced by railways of the USA South, which were also to the same 1524 mm gauge (see USA below). In 2000 it was converted to 1435 mm Standard gauge.
There used to be a few narrow gauge lines supporting the banana industry, all to 914 mm gauge. They had all closed by the end of the 1980s, except for one which survived into the 21st century.
Amazingly, the American company UFCO (United Fruit Company) had planned a 914 mm gauge railway, to ship bananas all the way to the USA, between New Jersey and Panama City! While the whole railway did not get completed, parts of the railway were completed as far as the Mexican border.
There used to be trams in Panama City, consisting of two separate systems. They started in 1893, but closed in 1941. Their gauge was different from that of the narrow gauge railways – 1067 mm. A short stretch of this tram network was dual gauged with the 1524 mm gauge main line Panama Railway to avoid a more circuitous route.
There is a Standard gauge metro in Panama City, built after previous plans for a light rail network were abandoned. Line 1 is complete and operational, while Line 2 is under construction. Lines 3 and 4 are in the planning stages.
COSTA RICA
Today Costa Rica has essentially two main lines, used mostly for freight and commuter traffic, primarily in the San José area. Initially they were, like in Panama, built by UFCO to transport bananas. Unlike in Panama, these railways were built to 1067 mm gauge. Reports indicate that currently these railways are not in operation, having been suspended in 1995, but that they are being slowly reinstated, although operations are intermittent at best. However, it is known that passenger services are once again operating, between San José and some of its suburbs and outlying towns.
San José used to have a tramway system (closed in 1950), also to 1067 mm gauge. It operated a petrol (gasoline) engine-equipped PCC streetcar bought from the city of Baltimore in the USA, and re-gauged from 1638 mm to 1067 mm, which must represent one of the more extreme differences in re-gauging. (Baltimore’s old 1638 mm gauge streetcar system was closed down in the 1940s.)
Finally, San José has a new 1067 mm gauge LRT system using refurbished and re-gauged (from 1000 mm) trains from FEVE in Spain.
NICARAGUA, HONDURAS, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, BELIZE
These five countries essentially tell the same story – once thriving, if small, narrow gauge railways that fell into decline due to competition from trucks and buses, and today are either defunct, or at best barely operational.
As far as their gauges are concerned, the following summarises each country:
Nicaragua – all closed. Were mostly to 1067 mm gauge, plus a short Standard gauge line.
Honduras – there once were 500 km of 1067 mm gauge and 200 km of 914 mm gauge freight lines, all in the coastal and lowland regions, plus a very short (3 km) commuter line in La Ceiba. Only about 75 km remains operational.
El Salvador – 914 mm gauge suburban service between San Salvador and Apopa (and with a link to Guatamala).
Guatemala – 914 mm gauge freight and passenger trains ran until 2007, then suspended, but currently being refurbished, including regauging to 1067 mm totalling nearly 800 km.
Belize – all 914 mm gauge railways now closed.
CUBA
Cuba is a long thin country, ruled by quite a severe communist dictator, and is perceived to be somewhat lagging in development compared to western countries. It therefore comes as a surprise to learn that the country has quite an extensive railway system. Even more surprising is that the railway appeared in Cuba as early as 1834, one of the first in the Americas. However, all these railways – from their inception to the Cuban revolution in 1959 – were almost entirely devoted to servicing the sugarcane industry.
There was a total of 12 000 km of railways in Cuba – a huge distance for such a small country. However, two thirds of this was to be found on sugarcane plantations, thus making its main-line railways total of just over 4000 km much more realistic. Even so, that is still a large amount of railway for a poor country 1200 km long and on average less than 150 km wide. Continuing closures mean that this total diminishes each year, although nearly 4000 km is still operational. The main-line railways are all 1435 mm Standard gauge.
The passenger train service in Cuba is mostly sporadic and unreliable, with only one train, running between Havana and Santiago de Cuba – the Tren Francés, formed from old Trans-European Express stock and hauled by a Chinese locomotive – offering any semblance of a regular service. Other passenger services seem somewhat intermittent. Things may however be getting better – the Cuban government has apparently ordered 200 passenger coaches (and over 500 freight wagons), as part of a major improvement program.
The remaining nearly 8000 km of private railways are – or, more accurately, were – to be found on sugar plantations. Of this total, around 140 km are electrified.
The electrified section is on the Hershey Cuban Railway – a network of railways, still operating, built by the US Hershey Chocolate Corporation, and used to transport both products and the workforce (the Hershey factory is now closed). Some of the earliest Hershey cars were interurbans as used in the US. The system was taken over by the Cuban government in 1960, and currently uses some ex-Spanish electric stock, re-gauged to suit Hershey’s Standard gauge. Also to be seen on the Hershey railway are locomotives from France and Russia.
Of the former total of 8000 km of plantation railways, around 5000 km was Standard g
auge, the remainder to a mix of 700 mm, 762 mm and 914 mm gauges. With so many of the plantation having closed in the last ten years, it is not known just to what extent these railways are still operating.
Finally for Cuba, capital city Havana had a small network of tramways, to Standard gauge. All had closed by the 1950s, although it is reported that some diesel railcars are still running between San Antonio and Güines.
OTHER CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES
Quite a few other Caribbean islands saw railways, although most of these have long been closed, and many parts of the Caribbean are bereft of railways altogether. Jamaica once did have a significant railway system. Opened as early as 1845, it was a public line built to carry passengers between Kingston and Spanish Town. Amazingly, it used 1435 mm Standard gauge, at a time when most ‘colonial’ railways used something narrower.
Jamaica’s railways’ fortunes were somewhat rocky over the next 60 years or so, but by the beginning of the 20th century the country had around 300 km of railways in existence – quite a distance considering that Jamaica is not all that large an island. Much of this route distance was in support of shipping agricultural products. Further lines were built to support the bauxite industry, also to Standard gauge.
The Americas Page 5