Ferrocarriles de Cuba
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Ferrocarriles de Cuba (FCC) or Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Cuba (English: National Railway Company of Cuba), the only railway operating on the Caribbean islands, provides passenger and freight services for Cuba.
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[edit] Route Network
Ferrocarriles de Cuba uses standard gauge (1435mm) that extends from Guane (province Pinar del Río) in the westernmost part of the island up to the bay of Guantánamo in the East part.
Most of the 4,226 km is diesel with 140 km electrified. The section in Trinidad in the south coast is damaged thus there is no railway service in that part of Cuba.
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 express. The train is formed by 12 coaches and a Chinese-built locomotive.
The Hershey train is an electrified train 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.[1]
[edit] History
[edit] Colonial Cuba
In 1836 Gaspar Betancourt Cisneros established a horse drawn railway service called Ferrocarril de Camagueey A Nuevitas in Camagueey (Puerto Príncipe).
Cuba's railway history began on October 12, 1834 when the king of Spain Ferdinand VII 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 possessed any railroad lines. The 27.5 km long line from Havana was extend 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's had it's first streetcar (Ferrocarril Urbano de la Habana) when its service commenced on 3 February 1859.
[edit] Pre-Revolutionary Cuba
American born Canadian railway builder Sir William Van Horne helped expanded 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:
- Ferrocarriles del Norte de Cuba 1916
- Ferrocarril Espirituano Tunas de Zaza
- Ferrocarril Guantánamo y Occidente
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.
[edit] Post-Revolutionary Cuba
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. After the Cuban missile crisis, it became harder from Cuba to buy new railway equipment because of the US trade embargo. Some trains were delivered via shipment with ships from third countries like Yugoslavia.
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 from friendly nations not affected by the embargo:
- 5 Type RSC18 locomotives were shipped from Canada
- 9 electrical motor coaches from Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) of Spain
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 locmotives 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 @ 2,500 HP) were shipped to Cuba. SNSF also sold some of their retired cars
[edit] Recent developments
On September 25, 2007, investors from the Venezuelan Bank for Socio-Economic Development (BANDES) reached an agreement with transportation officials in Cuba to invest $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.[2]
In October 2007, the Cuban railways ordered two hundred passenger cars and 100 freight wagons from Iranian manufacturer Wagon Pars.[3]
[edit] Roster
| Model | Manufacturer | Numbers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| TE-114K diesel locomtive | Lokomotivfabrik Luhansk, USSR | 108 | |
| TEM-2TK diesel locomtive | Lokomotivfabrik Luhansk, USSR | 79 | |
| DVM-9 | Hungary | 70 | |
| diesel locomotives | MLW, Canada | 50 | |
| GM-900 | General Motors Electro-Motive Division, USA | 51 | |
| TEM-4 diesel locomotive | Lokomotivfabrik Luhansk, USSR | 40 | |
| MGO | France | 30 | |
| TEM-15 diesel locomotives | Lokomotivfabrik Luhansk, USSR | 25 | |
| General Motors Electro-Motive Division, USA | 21 | ||
| M62-K diesel locomotives | Lokomotivfabrik Luhansk, USSR | 20 | |
| C30-7 | GE Transportation Systems, USA | 19 | |
| BR 771 VEB | British Rail, UK | 16 | |
| BR 971 | British Rail, UK | 3 | side cars |
| BR 772 VEB | British Rail, UK | ||
| BR 14972 | British Rail, UK | 3 | |
| DF7G-C | Beijing February 7th Locomotive Works, China | 12 | again supplied 2005/2006 |
| GMD GMD1 (A1A-A1A) | General Motors Electro-Motive Division, Canada | 12 | From Canadian National Railway to Cuba in 1999 |
[edit] References
- ^ Info about the Hershey train, accessed 2/16/2008
- ^ "Cuba to Develop Railroad System with Venezuelan Assistance", Cuban News Agency (ACN), 2007-09-25. Retrieved on 2007-09-25.
- ^ "Iran to build 300 wagons for Cuba", Iran Khodro Industrial Group, 2007-10-30. Retrieved on 2007-11-29.
- Zanetti Lecuona, OSCAR; García Álvarez, Alejandro: Caminos para el azúcar, La Habana: OD. de Ciencias Sociales, 1987.
- Zanetti Lecuona; García Álvarez: Sugar and Railroads. A Cuban History; 1837-1959, Chapel Hill & London: The University OF North Carolina press, 1998.
