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Passenger train in La Ceiba on January 11, 2005. Engineer tanks fuel manually from a barrel. Colorful passenger car (former box car without walls) is attached to the right.
Railroads in Honduras were built in late 19th and early 20th centuries by two competing U.S. corporations - United Fruit (Tela Railroad Company) and Standard Fruit (later nationalized). All were in the Caribbean coastal area and never reached the capital. In 1993, the combined network had 785 km. At present (2006), only three separate segments remain in operation under the management of FNH - Ferrocarril Nacional de Honduras:
- San Pedro Sula - Puerto Cortes (50 km, freight trains carrying mainly lumber)
- City rail in La Ceiba (3 km, passenger transport between downtown and a western suburb, Col. Sitramacsa)
- Line between La Unión, Honduras and Parque Nacional Cuero y Salado (9 km, transport of coconuts to a processing plant and of tourists to national park)
[edit] History
The railroads in Honduras were originally built by banana companies and consisted of two separate systems with differing gauges. The larger system, with almost 600 kilometers of track, was built by Standard Fruit Company in the early 1900s. Half of this system was 1.067-meter narrow gauge; the other half consisted of 0.914-meter, narrow-gauge lines. The government nationalized the Standard Fruit line in 1983, renaming it the Honduras National Railroad (Ferrocarril Nacional de Honduras--FNH). The other system, owned by the Tela Railroad Company, a subsidiary of Chiquita Brands International, encompassed 190 kilometers of 1.067-meter narrow-gauge lines. Both systems were located in the north central and northwestern coastal areas of Honduras and provided freight and passenger service. (from www.countrydata.com).
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