Rail transport in Guatemala
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Guatemala has 200 miles (322 km) of narrow gauge (914 mm) railroads as of 2006. The only line in operation goes from Guatemala City to Puerto Barrios with short branches to Guatemala City container terminal and Puerto Santo Tomás. It transports containers, steel, cement, paper and bananas between the Caribbean coast and the capital. There is no regular passenger transport except charter tourist trains. Operation is managed by U.S. based Railroad Development Corporation (RDC) which was given a 50-year concession in 1997. Other lines previously existing in Guatemala (such as to Ciudad Tecún Umán on the border with Mexico, to Anguiatú in El Salvador and to Puerto San José) have been abandoned at least since 1996. Together with the closed lines, the railroad network would have 497 miles (800 km). [1]
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[edit] History
First line in Guatemala was opened in 1884 from Guatemala City to Puerto San José. The presently existing line to Puerto Barrios was completed in 1908. The network was soon acquired by United Fruit and in 1912 renamed IRCA - International Railways of Central America. The railroad prospered until 1957. In 1954, United Fruit had to divest following an antitrust suit and in 1959, a parallel highway caused a serious competitive pressure. In 1968, the company defaulted, was taken over by the government and renamed FEGUA - Ferrocarriles de Guatemala. The condition of tracks continued to deteriorate and all traffic was shut down in 1996. Only nostalgic tourist trains (by Trains Unlimited) ran on parts of the network in 1997 and 1998.
In 1997, a 50-year concession was given to Railroad Development Corporation (RDC) which started to rehabilitate the network. They were delayed by the necessity to evict squatters who built their cottages on the right-of-way during the previous years and to repair damage caused by thieves and nature. A serious blow was Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which destroyed parts of the line. The first train under RDC management went from Guatemala City to El Chile cement plant on April 15, 1999, and the rest of the line to Puerto Barrios was put into operation in December of that year [2].
[edit] Present operation
Ferrovías Guatemala (FVG), subsidiary of RDC, operates 15 engines and 200 railcars on freight trains between Guatemala City and Puerto Barrios. Charter passenger trains with steam engines, mainly for European and U.S. tourists, are organized usually once a year by UK based Ffestiniog Travel. [3]. Traffic control uses a modified Track warrant Control method. The former main station in Guatemala city serves as railroad museum.
[edit] Ferrocarril de Los Altos
Outside of the IRCA network, an electric railroad "Ferrocarril de Los Altos" used to connect Quetzaltenango and Retalhueu between 1930 - 1933. It was destroyed by a hurricane in 1933 and never rebuilt. The remains are on display in a dedicated museum in Quetzaltenango. [4]
[edit] Ferrocarril Verapaz
Another isolated railroad, Ferrocarril Verapaz (also known as Ferropazco), used to connect Panzós and Tucurú in Alta Verapaz Department. Its construction was authorized in 1884 and completed in 1895. [5]. Its main purpose was to transport coffee from farms (fincas) controlled mainly by Germans to the port of Panzós on Polochic River, which merged to Lago de Izabal and the Caribbean Sea. The company was nationalized in 1943[6]. In 1956, the government created a national company "Ferrocarril Verapaz y Servicios Anexos" [7]. Operations stopped in 1963.[8].
[edit] References
- ^ Ferrovías Guatemala home page
- ^ Zimmermann, K.(2002): In Guatemala, a railway Phoenix rises. TRAINS Magazine.
- ^ Statistics of FVG
- ^ Hernández, L (2004): El Ferrocarril de Los Altos, Munixela website
- ^ Historia y Geografia Verapaciana, Infopressca 2004, page 47
- ^ Decreto Gubernativo No 3078 - Forced expropriation of Ferrocarril Verapaz y Agencias del Norte Limitada in 1943
- ^ Decreto Gubernativo No 1122 - establishment of Ferrocarril Verapaz y Servicios Anexos in 1958
- ^ Perez Riera, R.: Infraestructura, Comercio y Servicios Públicos, page 4
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Ferrovías Guatemala - current operator of Guatemalan railroads (more links imbedded inside)
- Report from a tourist train trip with map, gradient profile and photographs
- Overview of rail in Guatemala with contact addresses, photographs and links
- Germans in Verapaz, article in Prensa Libre with a picture of Ferrocarril Verapaz
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