Transportation in Chile

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[edit] Railways

  • total: 6,782 km
  • broad gauge: 3,743 km 1.676-m gauge (1,653 km electrified)
  • narrow gauge: 116 km 1.067-m gauge; 2,923 km 1.000-m gauge (40 km electrified) (1995)

The Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia is a metre gauge railway in the north of the country. It was originally constructed in 2' 6" gauge.

Chile's railways (except for a few dedicated line) are operated by the state owned company "Empresa de Ferrocarriles del Estado" which is abbreviated as EFE. The rail system once served the entire country, running rail lines from arica in the north to puerto montt in the south.

Due partly to the nature of the terrain and evolution in trasnportation systems, rail travel has suffered greatly at the hands of bus and air travel. The train usually takes longer to reach a destination than a bus line does and comfort is comparable. Prices also tend to be uncompetitive. Rail freight transport has also suffered at the hands of the trucking industry and will continue to do so due to the immense leverage the truck driver's union can bring to bear if they were to feel threatened.

The northern rail line out of Santiago is now in disuse past the intersection to the Valparaíso line offshoot and this section is used nearly exclusively for freight. Although the northern line is still in place, it is in a state of serious disrepair.

The southern line runs as far as Puerto Montt and is electrified as far as the city of Temuco, whereafter the line must be served by diesel locomotives. Due to lack of budget and care, the Temuco to Puerto Montt section was abandonded during a period in the 1990s but it has been in operation once again since 2005 with daily service between Victoria (north of Temuco) and Puerto Montt.

There have been repeated case studies regarding the installation of a high speed line between the cities of Valparaíso and Santiago, some even considering mag-lev trains, but no serious action has ever been taken on the matter.

[edit] Rail links to adjacent countries

[edit] Railways

[edit] 2005

IRJ of March 2005 reports construction started to build/restore (?) South Trans-Andean Railway link between Zapala, Argentina and Lonquimay, Chile. Possible break-of-gauge. Possible rack railway. [1]

[edit] Cities with Metros

[edit] Railways

  • Empresa de Ferrocarriles del Estado (EFE) [4]

[edit] Highways

  • total: 79,800 km
  • paved: 41,012 km
  • unpaved: 38,788 km (1996 est.)

[edit] Freeways

2,653 km

  • Chile Freeway 5
  • Chile Freeway 68
  • Chile Autopista del Sol
  • Chile Autopista del Itata

[edit] Waterways

725 km

[edit] Pipelines

crude oil 755 km; petroleum products 785 km; natural gas 320 km

[edit] Ports and harbors

Antofagasta, Arica, Chañaral, Coquimbo, Corral, Iqueque, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, San Antonio, San Vicente, Talcahuano, Tocopilla Valparaíso

[edit] Merchant marine

  • total: 45 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 580,749 GRT/860,034 DWT
  • ships by type: bulk 11, cargo 9, chemical tanker 8, container 2, liquified gas 2, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 4, roll-on/roll-off 4, vehicle carrier 2 (1999 est.)

[edit] Airports

370 (1999 est.)

[edit] Airports - with paved runways

  • total: 62
  • over 3,047 m: 6
  • 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6
  • 1,524 to 2,437 m: 20
  • 914 to 1,523 m: 20
  • under 914 m: 10 (1999 est.)

Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport, located in Santiago, is Chile's largest aviation facility.

[edit] Airports - with unpaved runways

  • total: 308
  • over 3,047 m: 1
  • 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
  • 1,524 to 2,437 m: 12
  • 914 to 1,523 m: 68
  • under 914 m: 223 (1999 est.)

[edit] National airlines

[edit] See also

This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.


v • d • e
Transportation in South America

Sovereign states
Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil · Chile · Colombia · Ecuador · Guyana · Panama* · Paraguay · Peru · Suriname · Trinidad and Tobago* · Uruguay · Venezuela

Dependencies
Aruba* (Netherlands) · Falkland Islands (UK) · French Guiana (France) · Netherlands Antilles* (Netherlands) · South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK)
* Territories also in or commonly reckoned elsewhere in the Americas (North America).
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