Ferrocarriles de Cuba (FCC) or Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Cuba (English: National Railway Company of Cuba), the only railway operating in the Caribbean islands, provides passenger and freight services for Cuba.
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Ferrocarriles de Cuba uses 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge) that extends from Guane (province Pinar del Río) in the westernmost part of the island up to the bay of Guantánamo in the eastern part.
Most of the 4,226 km is diesel with 140 km electrified. The branch to Trinidad in the south coast is damaged at a bridge and the rail service there is no longer connected to the rest of the national rail network. Local railcars run from the damaged bridge through Trinidad to the coast daily plus a steam locomotive and two home-built coaches on tourist tours through the sugar cane valleys of the Escambray Mountains.
The flagship Tren Francés ("French train") travels between Havana and Santiago de Cuba and is operated by coaches originally used in Europe between Paris and Amsterdam on the ex-TEE service. The train is formed by 12 coaches and a Chinese-built diesel locomotive.
The Hershey Railway is an electrified railway from Havana to Matanzas that was built by the Hershey Company in order to facilitate transport of workers and products after it had bought sugar plantations in 1916. It is a commuter service running in northern Havana and Matanzas provinces, and some original equipment still exists.[1]
In 1836 Gaspar Betancourt Cisneros established a horse drawn railway service called Ferrocarril de Camagüey a Nuevitas in Camagüey (Puerto Príncipe).
Cuba's railway history began on October 12, 1834 when the regent queen of Spain Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies approved the building of the first line. When the Compania de Caminos de Hierro de La Habana opened the 27.5 km line from Havana to Bejucal on November 19, 1837, it was the first steam railway line in Latin America. At this point Spain did not possess any railroad lines. The 27.5 km long line from Havana was extended by an additional 17 km to Guines on 19 November 1839. By December 1843 the cities San Felipe and Batabano were added to the rail network and further extensions were added in 1847 (17 km), 1848 (21 km), and 1849 (21 km).
Havana had its first streetcar (Ferrocarril Urbano de la Habana) when its service commenced on 3 February 1859.
American born Canadian railway builder Sir William Van Horne helped expand Cuba's railway network in the early 20th Century. He was an investor in the Cuba Railroad Company (founded 1902).
In 1924 Ferrocarriles Consolidados de Cuba was created from a dispute between Ferrocarriles Consolidados de Cuba and Ferrocarriles de Cuba.
Other railway companies would form and merge together in the 1920s:
From 1940 to 1959 Cuba's railway system was interrupted by fuel shortage during and after World War II. They were replaced by buses, which transported both passengers and freight
A few sugar factories switched over to diesel electric locomotives to haul freight.
The destruction of Batista's armoured train by the revolutionaries in the Battle of Santa Clara in December 1958 was an important stepping stone in the Cuban revolution.
After the revolution in 1959, the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Cuba was created by nationalizing the private and public railway systems. MINAZ continued to operate a separate railway system, mainly to transport sugar products.
From 1963 to 1966, British Rail helped the national railway obtain newer locomotives which were based on the Brush Type 4 locomotives at the time being built at Brush Traction in Loughborough, but the final assembly of the Cuban locomotives was performed at Clayton Equipment Company Hatton, Derbyshire.[2] After the Cuban missile crisis, it became harder for Cuba to buy new railway equipment because of the United States embargo against Cuba. Some trains were delivered via shipment with ships from third countries like the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. For example, the British locomotive shipped from Hull using Yugoslavian ships.
Purchase of new trains and parts to Cuba with the Western Bloc, stopped from the late 1960s, was replaced through trade with the Eastern Bloc. This trade link collapsed with the fall of the Soviet Union.
Cuba was able to obtain used trains, and even new locomotives, from friendly nations not affected by the embargo:
Starting from 2000, the Cuban railway network was improved by more second hand equipment. Larger number now used vehicles were coming from Canada, Mexico and Europe. In 2002 used light rubbing cars (BR771) from Germany.
Much of Cuba's trains are diesel and only a handful are steam locomotives remain for the sugar industry and the tourism industries.
After the 1990s, China became the new supplier of railway cars for Cuba. In 2006, 12 new locomotives (Type DF7G-C at 2,500 hp/1,900 kW) were shipped to Cuba. China Railways also sold some of their retired cars.
On September 25, 2007, investors from the Venezuelan Bank for Socio-Economic Development (BANDES) reached an agreement with transportation officials in Cuba to invest US$100 million for infrastructure improvements and repairs to Cuba's rail network. The work is expected to help increase the average speed of trains on Cuba's railways from 40 km/h (25 mph) to 100 km/h (62 mph). As part of the agreement, Cuban engineers will also work on similar projects on Venezuela's rail network.[3]
In October 2007, the Cuban railways ordered two hundred passenger cars and 550 freight wagons from Iranian manufacturer Wagon Pars.[4]
In May 2010, the Cuban government announced wide-ranging plans to repair the railway network, buy new rolling stock, and open four centres to train railway workers.[5]
Freight cars were mainly acquired from former Eastern Bloc countries and the then USSR, whereas passenger cars from Cuban friendly countries (Spain, Japan, Canada and France)].,[10][11]
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