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Mexico to Chile Earlier Information from Latin America Please take note: This page is our archive. Information on this page will no longer be corrected! More information in our periodical "Volta o Trem" Actual issue is No. 15-8 Earlier issues Why not join us as a member? Membership Application Information and Contact Information on:
Mexico List of Electric Locomotives, older information, continue >>>>> Mexico City : New urban tramway line (20/03/10) In the centre of Mexico City a real tramway line shall be built which from Buenavista as an East-West line surrounds the old city centre. The length of the line is 11 km, with 22 stops of which five as a connexion to the existing Metro. For this 12 trams are required, and a vehicle of type Bombardier Flexity Swift in the colours of Minneapolis (a photograph from Minneapolis, an interior view) was exhibited at Zocalo. Running time is 46 minutes (a complete round trip), interval between trams 4 minutes. Direct current at 750 Volt is being used. Doors will be on both sides, the floor is at a height of 350 Millimetres on 70 pct. of the cars. The cars are air sprung. Four cars can operate at the same time. Track gauge is 1435 Millimetres. The line shall operate by September 2010 and will be designated as line 1 which indicates that more lines will be built. Unfortunately, the offers turned out to be much more expensive than expected, and the project was stopped for budget reasons. Now these problems have been solved, and a new call for offers started. Winners should be known by March 2011. Alstom will also participate. Sources: Tramway &
Urban Transit
and El Reporter Ferroviário Caracas: Metro (20/03/10) Following the example of the Colombian city of Medellin, Caracas has built the MetroCable San Augustin as a gondola line. The line has a connexion to metro line 2 at Parque Central station and shall give the inhabitants of the hills a better connexion to the city. Source:
El Reporter Ferroviáriot
A trolleybus system on private right-of way called Transbarca is under construction at Barquisimeto which will have 80 articulated trolleybuses (and 8 options) from Neoplan, with electrical equipment of type Mitrac-500 from Bombardier, as well as an auxiliary diesel engine. The auxiliary engine is strong enough that the buses can travel under their own power from the port to the city, a distance of 120 km. Bombardier has already equipped trolleybuses at Quito/Ecuador and Mérida/Venezuela. The trolleybuses will be delivered from mid-2007 to the end of september 2008. The line has a total length of 22 km with 36 stops and is similar to the new network at Mérida which started operation in November 2006. Opening is probably in 2008. The inhabitants, however , would have preferred a Light Rail system.In the meantime the first 10 buses have arrived and have started test runs. Source: Stadtverkehr
Ecuador Quito (10/12/07) The North-South trolleybus line, equipped with Mercedes-Benz O-405 articulated trolleybuses built in Spain, is a great success and has already secured the mayor a re-election. Now a further increase from 260'000 passengers per day to 400'000 passengers per day is expected by 2010, and it is planned to convert the line to Light Rail. Colombia Bogotá (15/12/08)  For
the Swiss funicular Ferrolatino has created an extensive separate page
with many photographs and all the technical details. Now new bodies for
the vehicles have been introduced and the information updated.
Continue: >>>>> i
The "Museo de la Electricidad" with accompanying streetcar on a section of the former interurban line Lima - Chorrillos had been closed eight months ago due to lack of funds, and the streetcar stopped. On 14th February 2005, the museum was re- opened and the streetcar service was resumed. Car 97 from Breda (1924) operates again tuesday to sunday from 9 to 17h. Sources: Allen Morrison/Tramway
& Urban Transit
La Paz (14/04/06) The information about the world's highest funicular has moved. In addition, there are many new actualised photographs. Unfortunately the service was stopped, as the hill is sliding and the pillars were bent. The operators are now looking for a new location nearby. Continue: >>>>> La Paz - El Alto (28/04/06) The vehicles of this electric railway which closed in 1990, part of the railway line of the FCG from La Paz via El Alto to Guaqui on lake Titicaca, are mostly still around. Two motor cars still around, the Brill vehicles No. 10 and No. 12 (formerly No. 100 and No. 102) were transferred for the film "Los Andes no creen en Dios" to Guaqui depot. For the purposes of the film they were painted blue and used as trailers, together with other trailers of the FCG line. Brill locomotive No. 22, however, is the only vehicle on the premises of the former Pura-Pura depot at La Paz. At another shed at Estación Central at La Paz (on Allen Morrison's map station No. 2) are still Brill locomotives No. 20 and 21, General Electric locomotives No. 30 and 31, and English Electric locomotive No. 32, all in a reasonable state, being under a protective roof. Further information can be found on Allen Morrison's web page http://www.tramz.com/bo/lp/lp.html .
Brasil (by kind permission of the M-MRS) Newsletter 04, November/December 2002: continue >>>>>
Madeira-Mamoré Railway Society 112 Aketon Road, Castleford, WF10 5DU, England (tel) +44 (0)1977 515973 (e-mail) mmrs@efmm.net Source: Revista Ferroviária
Work for the reconstruction of this railway has been started by Santo Antônia Energia. Cost will be BRR20 millions. The line was closed by 2000 and is classified as a national monument. M-MRS Madeira-Mamoré Railway Society is in charge of this line. In spite of its protected status a large number of sleepers and track sections have been removed which not even happened during the military dictatorship. Source: Revista Ferroviária
In this local state the Trem das Montanhas Capixabas shall increase tourism. It operates on the 46 Kilometres rail line Viana - Domingos Martins - Araguaia. There are two sets of trains every Saturday, Sunday and holiday. Operator is Serra Verde Express. The railway line is owned by FCA, Ferrovia Centro-Atlántica, The train goes from a height of 15 Metres above sea level to 530 metres. A diesel motor coach (Litorina) serves as operating vehicle. Source: Revista Ferroviária
The "Trem da Cana" (of the sugar cane) shall operate on the tracks of the FCA, Ferrovia Centro-Atlantica between the cities Seratozinho and Francisco Schmidt, close to Riberão Preto, on a section of 10 Kilometres. Partner is Associação Mogiano de Preservação de Memória Ferroviário. Source: Revista Ferroviária
This modern freight line which the FLB visited on its last excursion in 2007 has been operating during 13 years. Originally used for the transport of wood carbon from Criciumá region to the Complexo Termlectrico in Capivari de Baixo, now new export freight possibilities for export via Imbituba harbour are used. This includes ceramic products and rice in containers. The railway owns both certificates for quality ISO 9001 and for environmental protection ISO 14001. Source: Revista Ferroviária
The Pilar funicular, out of service since 1984, has been rebuilt. New cars with a capacity of 20 passengers were built on site, and the line and the stations were reconstructed. The opening took place on the 29th March 2006. According to an older report, the elevator Taboão will also be rebuilt: A report can be found under: http://www.jornaldamidia.com.br/noticias//2005/05/13/Bahia/Elevador_do_Taboao_e_Plano_Inclin.shtml . Allen Morrison has created a new web site on the new Pilar line with many photographs. It can be found at http://www.tramz.com/br/sv/p/p.html. Many new facts have come to light about these urban transport services, and the technical data could be clarified. In addition, a further line has come to light in the suburb of Barra. With this, we have in supplement to Allen Morrison's page created a new page. An interesting document part of which has been published in a book about Swiss mountain railway pioneers, concerning the Gonçalves funicular, has been unearthed at the Swiss Museum of Transport in the original version and made usable for this web site. The report was written in 1890 and sent, together with a letter of thanks for an excellent achievement, to the Swiss engineer Niklaus Riggenbach. With this it can be confirmed that an English firm built in 1888 a funicular which, however, had to be closed for safety reasons that same year, whereafter it was the turn of Riggenbach. The document, together with a translation into English, can be found on a separate page and is worth a visit. In contrast to Riggenbach who wrote his letters in a n illegible handwriting, it is typewriter written. A Portuguese translation has also been provided on a separate page. Salvador, Bahia: Earlier tramway system (16/03/06) Allen Morrison has created a new web page which shows with many splendid photographs the earlier tramways. It can be found under http://www.tramz.com/br/sv/sv.html . Foz de Iguaçu, funicular (10/08/05), continue: >>>>> Brasília: Light Rail (VLT) (20/03/10) In addition, Alstom will also supply the current collection, the telecommunication, signalling, ticket machines and the control centre. Now construction of the first line has started. Sources:
Crônica Ferroviária, Stadtverkehr
Tramway & Urban Transport and Revista Ferroviária A new VLT line shall be built It operates from the terminal Eldorado of the Metrô to the section of town Alterosas at Betim and has a length of 12 Kilometres. For the connection from the Metrô terminal station Vilarinho to the airport Tancredo Neves in Confins a monorail line shall be built. Source::Revista
Ferroviária
The Glória funicular was completely rebuilt in 1993 .An accident in 1994 killed an employee when he tried to close the door. But today the line is operating again. - The new parallel funicular in Penha was also inaugurated in 1993. More details. In Botafogo a new funicular to the favela Dona Marta is under construction. Of this line three uppermost stations were opened and service started. The two lowermost stations will follow later, as the houses on the path of the line have to be demolished first. The first photographs of the new line are on a new page. The World Bank has granted the "Bonde" a credit of BRR17 million (USD 6 million). This will be used for the maintenance of the 14 cars, the reconstruction of the workshop (in an earlier attempt the machines were painted in green), them maintenance of the relatively new substation and the finalising work to the branch line in Rua Francisco Muratori at the lower end. Sources: Allen Morrison/Tramway
& Urban Transit
The section of the line between Dois Irmãos and Silveste which was operated by some tourist trams connecting to the Corcovado railway was closed as the copper overhead had been stolen. Possibly this will be now replaced as there is a touristic interest in the renewal of the connexion to the Corcovado railway. Sources: Revista Ferroviária
and newspaper "O Globo" Now the vehicles are operating normally in spite of the missing magnetic track brake. They are practically identical with the old vehicles, only the technical installations are new. The vehicles have been recently photographed in detail, and with this a new page has been created. Rio de Janeiro: Rare views from former times, Tramway and Mêtro In order to protect passengers from rain, the Bonde de Santa Teresa featured an experimental closed car, but this was not appreciated by the passengers, and the car was withdrawn. A similar car was built for the line from Usina to Alto do Boa Vista, and a picture of this can be found on page 109 in Allen Morrison's famous book "The Tramways of Brazil"(1989 Bonde Press, New York, out of print), still the best book on the subject. The view below shows the enclosed car en route to Dois Irmãos, just above Alto de Guimarães which is the junction of the lines to Deus Irmãos and Paula Mattos/Largo das Neves as well as the branch to the depot and workshop. Metrô line 2 was formerly a Light Railway (LRT, called Premetrô) and as such operated by articulated Belgian tramcars with pantographs. On the same page of the book as the tramcar above is a photograph of a LRT set which usually consisted of two cars. Below is a rare view of a set at a level crossing at the outer end of the line between Maria de Graça and Irajá.
Rio de Janeiro: Corcovado rack railway (25/07/10) The combined elevator and rolling stair installation at the Corcovado terminus is now operating. It consists of three parallel elevators and one rolling stair each up (on the left side with a beautiful view) and down. Unfortunately, the maintenance of the rolling stock leaves much to be desired (the brakes are almost completely worn), so that no standing passengers can be transported. The concession expires in three years time. The Swiss firm Stadler which has taken over the cog wheel train business from the original manufacturer SLM is informed, and negotiations for new trains are under way to replace the trains from 1978, or for a thourough overhaul of the present stock. A speciality of the cars which are similar to the trains of the Swiss Jungfraubahn which also operates on three-phase current are the motorised control trailer which take the current not from pantographs but from cables on the motor coaches. Passengers arriving at Silvestre by tram (from Carioca, twice daily at 11h and 15h) are now permitted to change to the railway, something formerly turned down because of a pretended lack of electric power to restart on the hill. As the new contract with the former operators was finally accepted, now it is becoming urgent to order new rolling stock. Of course, first the finance has to be arranged. Seven trains are envisaged with a capacity of 150 passengers each. The trains will feature air conditioning and operate 30 pct.. faster. The trains will be built as before by the firm of Stadler as successor of SLM which delivered in 1978 the existing trains and which is today world wide the only firm which produces rack trains. The trains shall be delivered by 2010 and cost a total of BRR15 millions. It is also intended to attract more passengers from cruise ships. Due to the extremely strong rainfalls of this spring, the installations were heavily damaged, and operations had to be stopped for several months. Also the inhabitants of sections of town below the Corcovado suffered considerable damage. The railway suffered losses of several millions of Reais and this will delay the purchase of new vehicles even further. Therefore the trains have been submitted to a substantial overhaul, and they will also receive a new coat of paint. Also the statue of the Cristo Redentor has received a complete external overhaul. Sources:
Revista Ferroviária and newspaper "O Globo"
and Eisenbahn-Amateur (Switzerland) Rio de Janeiro: Monorail in Santa Teresa (16/03/06) This monorail line was some years ago the theme of a christmas card by the web master who thanks to special relations was able to ride over the whole length. The line connects the Rua Almirante Alexandrino (on which the tram line to Dois Irmãos operates, somewhat further on from the International School, previously : the Swiss School) with the residential area Santa Cecília which climbs up along the hill. The lower station is inside a small gallery, thereafter follows a tunnel and then an open-air section in reversing curves which leads to the houses, many inhabited by former Swiss residents or their successors. The car was operated in earlier times by a gasoline engine, but is now operated by natural gas for which a barrel can be seen on the roof. The two rear wheels are ordinary rubber wheels. You may only ride on it if your are an inhabitant of the area, or wish to visit a resident. Allen Morrison has made a web page with many photographs. It can be found under http://www.tramz.com/br/rj/vj/vj.html. Rio de Janeiro: Barra Shopping Monorail In 1996, the Swiss firm Intamin from Wollerau, Canton of Schwyz, formerly mainly specialised in roller coasters, installed around the Barra Shopping Centre a monorail line equipped with trains from the German Federal Garden Exhibition at Stuttgart (the remainder of the trains went to the next Garden Exhibition at Gelsenkirchen). Cars operated automatically, but with an attendant to start and stop the trains by pushbutton. In case of technical problems the man who had designed the control system was able to interfere from his garden in the German Ruhr area, but only after the transmission frequency had been altered (in the same way he also managed the monorails at Stuttgart and Gelsenkirchen). The practical purpose of the line remained a mystery, as the parking spaces were arranged around the shopping centre and were quicker reached by walking than by using the monorail. At the same time, some more lines were planned to the residential areas nearby, with other vehicles, but they were never realised. In August 2003, operation stopped, and the line was dismantled. Santos: Museum tramway (20/03/10) The tramway at Santos celebrates this year its 100 year anniversary For this event many festivities were prepared. The extension of the line to 5 Kilometres (running time 50 minutes) started operation at the middle of December. The tramway operates every 30 minutes from Tuesday to Sunday from 11 h to 17 h starting at Praça Mauá and passes 40 sights. Three cars, of which two are from Porto and one from Scotland (which still belonged to the former tramway) are operating. The two PCC cars purchased in Turin (Italy) are presently being worked on. The car built in the forties of t he past century by FIAT and bearing the number 3265 will receive the original paint scheme in two shades of green. Sources: Revista Ferroviária and Tramway& Urban Transit Also in Santos there are plans for a VLT(Vehículo Leve Sobre Trilhos) line. Start of construction shall be in December 2009. The line of 11 Kilometres connects the Area Continental of São Vicente with the harbour of Santos. Plans are for 14 articulated vehicles with a length of 42 Metres and a capacity of 350 passengers. Thereby, 210'000 passengers shall be transported every day. Financing is thought to be by PPP (Public Private Partnership). A good co-ordination with the existing buses is planned. Quelle:
Revista Ferroviária
The last streetcar of this system, the modernised two-axle car from Brussels No. 9007 which allegedly was in use as an advertising car until December 2005, has been restored and is being exhibited on a plinth on Plaza Uruguaya. Of recent, rack is being prepared for service, and from Brussels a used PCC car no longer required there may be coming. Sources: Blickpunkt Strassenbahn/Tramway
& Urban Transit
Buenos Aires At present, subte trains use the ramp track of the former (surface) tramway and its access to the workshops which is also used by the museum trams of AAT. So if you want to photograph subway trains on street tram tracks, here is your chance. Subterráneos de Buenos Aires S.E. (SBASE) is the firm of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires which plans and builds extensions and new lines of the Subte subway. Informations can be found on the SBASE website. Line B will be within the first part of the extensions of Subte extended by 1,2 km and two stations, Echeverria and Villa Urquiza (new: Juan Manuel de Rosas). Near Echeverria a new maintenance workshop will be constructed. All of this should be ready by 2011. Following new information, the extension of line B as well as the construction of the maintenance workshop must be deferred to an indefinite date. Now work has been resumed on the extension and the maintenance workshop. For the 200 years festivities of the May Revolution Metrovías wishes to rebuild two old vehicles to the state of 1913. These vehicles were built by La Brugoise et Nivelles in Belgium and are today the worlds oldest subway cars. They were in their time detached a Primeira Junta during the rush hours and operated as a tram line on an extension via the ramp along Avenida Rivadávia as far as Lacarra street. Thus they had at both ends open platforms. Because of the increase of road traffic this tram line was closed at the end of December 1926. The ramp and part of the line serve today as access to the Polvorin workshop where also the museum vehicles of the tramway museum AAT are stored. There the two vehicles will be restored. Source:
El Reporter Ferroviário
Demonstration tramway at Puerto Madero (25/05/09) In the meantime it has become somewhat more quiet around the tramway, apart from a derailment. New designation is "Tranvía del Este". Loading is still very modest, as the line operates in an area with few pedestrians. Now the line shall be extended as far as Retiro and the nearby long-distance bus terminal. Work should have started at the beginning of February and be finished six months later. The extension has a length of 2 km and three new stops. Two more tramcars should permit a 20 minute service. Sources: Tramway
& Urban Transiti
The former workshops Polvorín where up to now the Subte subway trains were maintained and which was connected with a surface rail line to line A at the Primeira Junta terminus will be replaced by new workshops. Polvorín is also the place where the historical vehicles of the AAT, Associación Amigos del Tranvía, are stored which from there make round trips with the old streetcars and subway cars. Now the depot and the entire street section have been declared a national monument. The association also occasionally organises trips outside the museum area. Thus in the suburb of Quilmes public rides were organised on track repaired for the occasion. This was so successful that Quilmes now has the intention to introduce a real tramway line. The two cars No. 2 and 3, manufacturer Preston, from 1913 which originally operated on line A from Plaza de Mayo to Primeira Junta and from there via the ramp on Avenida Rivadávia as far as Iacerra as ordinary tramway and operated by Anglo Argentina until discarded at the end of the seventies, and which then went to the AAT (operating them also on their museum circuit) have carried out a trial run on Line A. They are in original condition and beautifully overhauled. Source: Crónica Ferroviaria and El Reporter Ferroviário This project presented on a separate page for the use of elderly tram cars from Bern in Rosario could not be realised. The track is not ready, and the remaining funds for the transport could not be found. As by now all the new Combino trams are in service in Bern (somewhat more rapidly than the Cobra trams in Zürich!), last operating day of the old sets was officially the 16th August 2003. Six of the sets of trams reserved for Rosario have been sent to the city of Iasi in Romania. This may well be better, as the second series of Swiss standard cars at Bern had considerable corrosion damage, in contrast to the first (older) series. According to recent information from Bernmobil the authorities have lost confidence into the project. Thus the Be 8/8 to be retired will also go to Iasi, and the operators there are judged to be able to operate and maintain them. This city on the foot of the Andes, well known for its fruits and wine cultures, already has an extensive trolleybus system with several lines, some of them operated with used three axle vehicles from Solingen/Germany. Now there are plans to build an LRT/Light Rail System, and the Chinese government has worked out an offer for 10 two car diesel trains with a capacity of 350 passengers and a length of 30 meters. The trains are air conditioned and can be heated. Prices are 40 pct.. below similar European prices and include spares for 3 years and the training of local staff. To replace the ageing three axle trolley buses from Solingen/Germany, in Vancouver/Canada 60 used two axle trolley buses of make Flyer were purchased, after Rosário did not show any interest in the vehicles. They have arrived in the mean time. Sources:
El Reporter Ferroviário
and Crônica Ferroviária For the first time since three years a laden goods train has travelled the entire line from Salta in Argentina to Antofagasta in Chile and back. The train used in Argentina the line C-14 (Transandino del Norte) which also partially is used by the "Tren a las Nubes". For the 354 Kilometres on the Argentinean side up to the boarder station Socompa ARS30 millions were invested to improve the track. The Chilean state also participated. This was an experimental journey. Source:
Crônica Ferroviária
Arica - La Paz (20/07/10) The Port Authority of Arica has started to reconstruct the Chilean part of the Ferrocarril de Arica a La Paz (FCALP). This is owned by the Chilean state railway Ferrocarriles del Estado de Chile, which has transferred the work to the Port Authority. The length of this part is 206 Kilometres. The USD32 millions come from state funds. Renewed will be the track and the sleepers as well as fasteners of them. Source:
El Reporter Ferroviário
In this small harbour town in the north of Chile, for some time a museum tramway has been under construction for a very long time. Finally, it opened on the 24th October 2004. Rolling stock consists of a horse tram with four horses and a double deck battery operated tram car. Information and photographs can be found under http://www.tramz.com/cl/iq/e.html . After a short operating period of about three months the operation of the tram line stopped because of track problems at Christmas 2004. The problems were resolved, and the line resumed operation in February 2005. Sources: Allen Morrison/Tramway
& Urban Transit
Santiago: Subway (25/12/06) All extensions are part of the Transantiago project which envisages a complete integration of all transportation of the city. For the bus system a total of 3'500 articulated and standard buses from Marcopolo of Brasil are on order. Also planned is the creation of transfer centres, the normalisation of bus stops, the standardisation of calls for offers to the (still private) bus operators, the creation of reserved bus lanes and the planning of signalling preferences at cross roads. Source: Urbanrail
State president Bachelet announced shortly before the end of her time in government. a new line 6, Linha Expresso Sur. The line shall connect the suburban communities from Cerillos to Las Condes (where a tramway shall be built). The line has a length of 14,8 Kilometres and 12 stations. It goes from Pedro Aguirre Cerda station diagonally through the centre of town to Tobaloba station . Connexion to the existing network is at Franklin station on line 2, Ñuble on line 5 and Pedro de Valdivia on line 1 which will be relieved by the new line. Quelle:
El Reporter Ferroviário
In this suburb of Santiago the construction of a Light Rail line is planned. For this, the consortium Alstom -Comsa has made an offer. The vehicles come of course from Alstom and are a variant of their best selling Citadis. Thus this type will after Brasilia and possibly Santos find a further point of use. The line shall be 10 Kilometres long and have 10 to 14 stations. The line starts at the sector Nueva Bilbao, near the sports town Zamorano where also workshop and car shed will be placed and which serves important parts of town such as Padre Hurtado, Manquhue and Colón. Fares will be at USD1 which is international standard. At least one station placed at a Metro station of line 1 shall enable transfer to the Metro. Source:
El Reporter Ferroviário
A fast train connexion is being studied between these two cities. At present there are buses at 10 minutes intervals during the rush hours. Even in earlier times there was an electric train between these two cities. The line shall, however, also serve for goods traffic. Possible opening could be the year 2020. Source:
Revista Ferroviária
The railway line from Talca to Constitución, formerly a harbour town, as become a national monument. The line has a length of 90 km and reaches villages which otherwise are without road connexion. It was opened between 1892 and 1915, and has in contrast to EFE meter gauge. The vehicles are strong diesel rail buses from Ferrostaal which have been operating for the last 45 years. Source:
El Reporter Ferroviário
More information in our periodical "Volta o Trem" Actual issue is No. 15-8 Earlier issues Why not join us as a member? Membership Application Information and Contact
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