Rail transport in Bolivia

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Railways in Bolivia --- Routes with passenger traffic --- Routes in usable state ********** Unusable or dismantled routes Railways in Bolivia.png
Railways in Bolivia
━━━ Routes with passenger traffic
━━━ Routes in usable state
·········· Unusable or dismantled routes
Passenger trains in Bolivia Passenger trains in Bolivia.png
Passenger trains in Bolivia

The Bolivian rail network is made at present of two separate systems, one in the eastern lowlands centered on Santa Cruz and one centered along a north-south axis along Altiplano plateau and with multiple branch lines. [1]

Contents

The network has had a varied development throughout its history but contrary to the road system that largelly unified in 1954 with the opening of the Cochabamba–Santa Cruz road the eastern and western rail systems in Bolivia have never joined. [1] [2]

History

Vintage photo of Kitson- Meyer by Beyer Peacock for the Antofagasta - Bolivia Railroad Company Kitson Meyer Beyer Peacock FCAB.jpg
Vintage photo of Kitson– Meyer by Beyer Peacock for the Antofagasta - Bolivia Railroad Company

Gauges

All railways in Bolivia are now 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) Metre gauge.[ citation needed ] The Antofagasta to Uyuni line was originally 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge.

Maps

FCAB Line from Antofagasta

Current Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia dates back to 1873 FCAB1413.jpg
Current Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia dates back to 1873

Bolivia built a line to the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Lines in the south, east

In Bolivia the use of railbuses for passenger transport has always existed and it fits very Coche Motor Ferrostaal (FCOSA) 01.jpg
In Bolivia the use of railbuses for passenger transport has always existed and it fits very

A line from São Paulo, Brazil, enters Bolivia at Puerto Suarez and connects to this line at Santa Cruz. In the 1950s this last major rail system was completed. A line was intended to run from Santa Cruz to Trinidad (about 500 km (310 mi) in the north center of the country, but never reached there, it ended north of Yapacani (150 km (93 mi)), from where since 2014 an industrial spur is under construction to the ammonia/urea factory near Bulo Bulo (60 km (37 mi)).

Spur lines were run to mining districts and the regional capital of Cochabamba.

Mamore and Madeira Railway

Another railway was a local line in the Amazonian jungle. The Madeira-Mamoré Railroad runs in a 365 kilometres (227 mi) loop around the unnavigable section to Guajará-Mirim on the Mamoré River. [3]

Steel lines to the Silver at Potosi

Rio Mulatos-Potosí line is a train line in Bolivia, containing Cóndor station, the world's ninth highest railway station (4,787 m (15,705 ft)).

Future plans

The government of Evo Morales has proposed a rail line uniting La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz, connecting onwards to Brazil and the Pacific coast. [4]

The department of Cochabamba and the national government are contracting design studies in 2011 for regional trains to run on two routes: Cochabamba-Caluyo-Tarata-Cliza-Punata-Arani and Sipe Sipe-Vinto-Cochabamba-Sacaba-Chiñata. [5] A 180-day study on Sipe Sipe-Chiñata line is being carried out between August 2011 and February 2012. [6] This project, known as Mi Tren, is under construction and due for completion in 2020.

Chancay mega port

With the opening of the mega port at Chancay in 2025 comes the need for proper railway access. Unfortunately such access from the rest of South America is hamstrung by missing links and the proliferances of track gauges, which include 914mm, 1000mm, 1067mm, 1435mm (standard gauge), 1600mm, 1676mm and dual gauge,

Incidents

In 2007 thieves had stolen 100 meters of Bolivian track overnight, and the morning freight had insufficient distance to stop. Photo of the site shows locomotives 1021 and 951 remained upright, but extensive damage ensued.

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 De Marchi Moyano, Bianca (2018). "Bolivia: estrategias viales hacia un "país de contactos"". Revista Transporte y Territorio (in Spanish). 18.
  2. ↑ Pruden, Hernan (2012). Cruceños into Cambas: Regionalism and Revolutionary Nationalism in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia (1935-1959) (PhD thesis). Stony Brook University. p. 148.
  3. ↑ Brazil's Devil's Railway gets new lease of life BBC
  4. ↑ "Buscan apoyo chino para tren eléctrico". La Razón. 2011-01-30. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
  5. ↑ Nava B., Jhenny (2011-03-11). "Gobernador anuncia estudio para reactivar el ferrocarril". Opinión. Cochabamba. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
  6. ↑ Alcócer Caero, Gisela (2011-08-24). "Un consorcio elabora el plan para reactivar tren del valle". Los Tiempos. Cochabamba. Retrieved 2011-08-24.

Bibliography

  • Walker, Christopher; Binns, Donald (2005). Railways of Bolivia: Locomotives, Railcars and Rolling Stock. North Yorkshire: Trackside Publications. ISBN   1900095289.

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