Rail transport in Paraguay

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Former train station in Asunción, in 2006 serving as rail museum.

The Rail system in Paraguay consists of a 376 km line between Asunción and Encarnación (with a connection to Posadas, Argentina).[1] The infrastructure is administered by Ferrocarriles del Paraguay S.A. (FE.PA.S.A.), corporation established in 2002 [2]. As of 2006, all traffic has been suspended except weekly tourist steam trains between Asunción Jardín Botánico and Areguá (unofficial timetable) and cross-border freight trains between Posadas (Argentina) and Encarnación. The former main station in Asunción has been converted into a railway museum ([3]).

[edit] History

Railways in Paraguay were inaugurated in 1861, during the era of Carlos Antonio López.[4]. Privatized and renationalized several times, the railroad was finally nationalized in 1961. As of 1988, the 367-km rail system was outdated, wood-powered, slow and costly even with government subsidies. The volume of cargo carried on the railroad declined in the 1970s and 1980s as alternative roads and waterways became more efficient, though some agricultural goods did move by train. In Encarnación, the Paraguayan railroad system connected via ferry with the Argentine city of Posadas, which was connected by rail to Buenos Aires and the Uruguayan railroad. There also was a small "soybean railroad" near the Brazilian border. (according to Country-data)