Maybe readers might be interested in an update on the railroad situation in Ecuador as of January 1, 2009. It is almost all good news and which would have been thought impossible two years ago.
The Government of Ecuador has decided to rehabilitate the entire line from Quito to Guayaquil and from Otavalo to San Lorenzo and work has commenced. The line from Quito (Chimbacalle) has been entirely relaid to Tambillo and the line from Tambillo to Latacunga is now operational as far as El Boliche with services on Saturdays and Sundays and expected to go daily in April. The line from El Boliche to Latacunga is operational but passenger services will not commence until April 1, 2009 and will be daily. The entire line to Latacunga is passed for steam and diesel locomotives (Alsthom 1992).
Riobamba to Urbina has also been completed and is operational for all locomotives and is passed for steam.
A landslide had totally disrupted all service between Palmira and Alausi and the fact that all resources had to be devoted to re-opening this important section of the mainline - which sees almost daily service - delayed much of the work on other sections. However this line is fully operational for steam and diesel from Riobamba to Guamote to Alausi to Sibambe and sees daily service with extra shuttles between Alausi and Sibamabe.
The next sections to be worked on are Yaguachi to Milagro scheduled to re-open in July 2009, Urbina to Mocha (December 2009) and Bucay to Huigra (August 2009). The City Council in Milagro refuses to allow the track to be-opened through the town which effectively means that from there to Bucay is not going to operate until this dispute is fixed. However, President Correas gets his way and this section should be open by 2010. These are expected to be followed by Huigra to Sibambe currently scheduled to re-open in January 2009.
The line from Ibarra to Primer Paso is currently being upgraded between Ibarra and Salinas and by 2010 it is expected that this line will be operational from Otavalo to San Lorenzo. As to Quito to Otavalo it is doubtful but the President says he will re-open it as soon as possible, whatever that means! But it is worth noting this line was built to contai ne rgauae and is therefore the logical line to re-open for freight from San Lorenzo to Quito.
Major equipment refurbishment is either underway or complete. Two new six car trains based in Quito and Riobamba have been completed all with accommodation for roof riders. Cars 97 and 98 are fully refurbished, 61 and 95 is fully operational and 93 is being refurbished. A new railcar has been built and is fully operational as No. 86 and is based in Ibarra. No. 10 (Ibarra) has been totally rebuilt and unusually for a railcar has an open trailer which can crary twenty people. Finally new coaches will being constructed in Ibarra for the line to San Lorenzo re-opening with diesel power.
Stations at Quito, Tambillo, Machachi, El Boliche, Lasso, Latacunga, Urbina and Riobamba have been totally refurbished.
Allocation of vehicles is currently as follows:
Duran : Steam loco No. 11 operational but is to get major overhaul. Autoferro 3 operational.
Bucay : Autoferro 95 operational.
Riobamba: Steam Locos Nos. 17 and 53 operational. Autoferros 61,97, 111 and 112 operational. New five coach passenger train under construction. Alsthom 2401 operational. Stored serviceable Alsthom 2403. 2406, 2408, 2409.
Quito: Autoferro 98 and 110 operational. 93 under refurbishment. New five coach passenger train under construction. Stored serviceable Alsthom 2404 operational and 2405 serviceable. Steam engines Nos. 58 and 18 are operational and were used during the re-opening of the line to El Boliche.
Ibarra: Autoferros 10 and 86 (new) operational. No. 36 under repair. Steam loco No. 14 operational. Alsthom 2402 and 2407 stored but have been cannibalised to provide parts for Quito and Riobamba machines. However they can be easily put back in service but right now the track to Primer Paso is so bad only railcars can operate and neither steam nor diesel can leave the yard in Ibarra,
I realise the babove is highly techical and only of interest to the small group who are fond of Ecuador but it shows what miracles are being done.There is no doubt that barring another El Nino it will be possible to travel from Duran (Guayaquil) to Quito to San Lorenzo by passenger train by 2015 and this is arguably the greatest train journey in the world.
And if anyone going to Ecuador drops me an e-mail at
busmuseum@hotmail.com I will try and make special arrnagements for them to get photos on the service trains.
Michael Grimes
