Rail transport in Bolivia

The Bolivian rail network has had a peculiar development throughout its history.

Railways in Bolivia
━━━ Routes with passenger traffic
━━━ Routes in usable state
·········· Unusable or dismantled routes

Passenger trains in Bolivia

History

Main article: History of rail transport in Bolivia

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

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FCAB Line from Antofagasta

Current Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia dates back to 1873

See also: Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia

Rail link to Peru

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

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

Main article: Madeira-Mamoré Railroad

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.^[1]

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.^[2]

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.^[3] A 180-day study on Sipe Sipe-Chiñata line is being carried out between August 2011 and February 2012.^[4] This project, known as Mi Tren, is under construction and due for completion in 2020.

International rail links to adjacent countries

• Argentina – yes – 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) both countries
• Brazil – yes – 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge both countries
• Chile – yes – 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge both countries
• Peru – Shipping by car float from 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) railhead in Guaqui to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) railhead in Puno across Lake Titicaca

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

• Trains portal
• Bolivia portal

• Transport in Bolivia
• Interoceanic Highway
• Trans-Andean railways