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This regular service was the first to be restored in the country after the complete withdrawal of passenger train services on January 2nd, 1988. It started on January 11th, 1993 with two Brill 60 rail cars (122 and 123), built in 1936 and remotorised with Cummins engines between 1959 and 1961. The service was provided by Ferrotransporte S.A., which payed to AFE US$180 for the daily roundtrip over 118 km and provided the service administration and passenger service duties. Rail car driving and maintenance was AFE business. On August 20, 1993, Brill rail cars were sent to Peñarol workshops to be used in the Montevideo - 25 de Agosto line, restored on August 26, 1993. They were replaced by Allan cars pulled by locomotives, which increased operative costs for AFE and increased travel time (from 2h40 to 3h10, 3h25 and finally 3h45) because of bad track conditions. In October, 1994 a Fiat car was put in service because one of the Allan cars was out of service. Another Fiat car replaced the last Allan car on December 1994. On April 8th, 1995 the loco hauled train was replaced by the Brill railcars, but the timetable continued unmodified without reason and rail cars stopped a long time at stations in order to run on time. On January 2nd, 1997 the service was withdrawn because the AFE - Ferrotransporte contract ended. On March 3rd of same year the rail cars returned to run thanks to an accord between AFE and the local governments of Tacuarembó and Rivera. The time trip was reduced to 3h10. On December 31, 1998, AFE once again withdrew
the service. It was then reintroduced on April 26, 1999 and ran until December
31 of the same year. The next period of operation started on March 13,
2000. The reason for this on and off was the inability of the public railway
company to reduce operative costs and to increase the number of passengers.
On top of it, a wrong assignation of costs made it impossible to operate
the service on an economically balanced basis. The local governments only
dispose of a very limited budget and could not provide any funds to cover
the deficit caused by
Track condition (30 kg/m). The operations over the line were affected several times by the derailment of freight trains. In January and February 1998, the line was interrupted at various spots by flooding. To repair the track, it was necessary to lay new ballast and sleepers at the most critical points. However, there has never occurred a derailment of a passenger train since 1993 despite the service was operated by a locomotive with coaches (much heavier: a total weight of 140 to 228 metric tons compared with the 23 metric tons of a rail car) between 1993 and 1995. It is projected to renovate the entire track with rails of 50 kg/m which arrived from the Russian Federation in 1998 and 1999. The shape of the bridges is good; only one was lifted by the flood of December 31, 1984. This incident caused the derailment of a mixed train. The bridge was substituted first by a provisional one, followed by the definitive (made of concrete) one in 1989. The railway line serves various small settlements and one town. None of the intermediate stations is located at a direct road linking them with the capital cities. Bus services are scarce and the access roads are in very bad shape. The only station with good road access is Tranqueras. Two passenger flows can be distinguished: from Tacuarembó towards Tranqueras and from Tranqueras towards Rivera and vice versa. The number of passengers who travel the entire line is very small, however, it may be increased if the rolling stock is modernized (renovation of the Brill rail cars as a first step), the service is promoted (preferably from the touristical point of view) and the track is modernized in order to set the travel time at 2h30min. This last objective is easy to reach after the renovation of the over one hundred year old rails. It must be considered to finally reach a travel time of 1h30 min. As a second step, it is planned to reintroduce passenger trains between Tacuarembó, Valle Edén and Tambores or even Piedra Sola. The section Tranqueras - Rivera has the potential for a more frequent regional service in addition to the trains running over the entire line. The revenues can be increased by charging a fee for bulky parcels and the introduction of a monthly pass for students (instead of free transportation). To prevent smuggling, it could be provided that all passengers proceed through customs in Rivera station, and only two pieces of hand luggage per passenger are to be allowed. The parcels will be revised by the competent authority at the moment they are checked. Repair of the vehicles The project Líneas Férreas Uruguayas proposes the full renovation of the Brill rail cars and the implantation of a ventilation system (air condition or heating and fan). As far as the mechanical part is concerned, it will be studied if the gearboxes must be replaced or, in case the new gearboxes do not fit with the motor, the whole complex gearbox - motor has to be substituted by new elements. It is important to emphasise that the Brill rail cars will be replaced by new rolling stock once the cost of the repair is amortised and the track renovation is completed. The driving staff must be instructed and tested by AFE in order to be able to run the service. The operation of the service itself and the maintenance of the vehicles is at the expense of LFU without any cost to AFE.
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