There are currently no functioning

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, and there have never been any rail connections with the neighbouring

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. However, between 1876 and the 1970s, various

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

ways and railways ran in the country. A tram network operated in the capital,

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, between 1897 and 1932. Three railway lines, along with some industrial lines, constituted the Haitian national rail network. The first horse drawn street tramway opened in 1876, with rural railways constructed later. Narrow gauge steam locomotive train

Horse tramways

In 1876, a franchise for the construction of a street railway in

was awarded to a group of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

financiers. They founded the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de Port-au-Prince (CCFPP). Six open cars were ordered from

J. G. Brill and Company The J.G. Brill Company manufactured streetcars,Young, Andrew D. (1997). ''Veteran & Vintage Transit'', p. 101. St. Louis: Archway Publishing. interurban coaches, motor buses, trolleybuses and railroad cars in the United States for almos ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1877 and a tramway service connecting Croix des Bossales with Champ de Mars began in 1878. The venture was initially successful, but was hurt by competition from

buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

from 1880. In 1884, the company owned 50 to 60 horses, 10 passenger cars and 16 freight cars. The CCFPP fell into

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

in 1885 and the last tram ran in 1888. Haiti rail map 1925

Steam railways

In 1896, the Comite des Negociants d'Haiti (Haitian Trader's Committee) began to restore the closed horse tramway system and to build two new rural lines. A new company, Societe des Tramways de Port-au-Prince, ordered the following equipment: * One 8-

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

from

H. K. Porter Henry Kirke Porter (November 24, 1840 – April 10, 1921) was an American businessman and Representative of the United States Congress for Pennsylvania's 31st congressional district. Biography Porter was born in Concord, New Hampshire. In 186 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

(named President Sam) * Five 12-ton steam locomotives from Krauss,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

* Three steam locomotives from Ateliers de Tubize,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

* Ten open

passenger cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

from the

Jackson and Sharp Company Jackson and Sharp Company was an American railroad car manufacturer and shipbuilder in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company was founded in 1863 by Job H. Jackson (b. 1833), a tinsmith and retail merchant, and Jacob F. Sharp (b. 1 ...

, US

Port-au-Prince

Steam-hauled tram services in Port-au-Prince began in April 1897. Between 1912 and 1918, there were plans to electrify the system, but these did not come to fruition. Instead, a small

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...

, based on

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

parts, was introduced. This iteration of the tramway closed in 1932.

Rural lines

The rural lines were operated by a separate company, Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de la Plaine du Cul-de-Sac (CCFPCS), but the two companies shared their rolling stock. The track gauge, in both cases, was narrow gauge. There were two routes: * Port-au-Prince to Léogâne (36 km) * Port-au-Prince to Manneville (43 km) Following the US occupation of Haiti in 1915, the CCFPCS was taken over by the

Haitian American Sugar Company Haitian American Sugar Company, S.A. (HASCO) was an American business venture which sought to produce and sell sugar and other goods in Haiti and the United States. The company was registered with a capital of five million dollars on 5 August 1 ...

(Hasco) and renamed Chemin de Fer Central. Hasco used the following locomotives: * One 32 ton

2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...

* One 36 ton 2-6-0 * One 15 ton

0-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...

These might possibly be the three locomotives from Ateliers de Tubize (see above) or they might be new locomotives. The 0-4-0 carries the note "Cie.H.Duw. 2" but whether this is the name of the maker, or of a previous owner, is unclear.

Saint-Marc line

In 1905, a new company, Compagnie Nationale, built a narrow gauge steam railway from Port-au-Prince to Saint-Marc (100 km). The track was later extended another 30 km east to

Verrettes Verrettes (; ht, Vèrèt) is a commune in the Saint-Marc Arrondissement, in the Artibonite department of Haiti. It is located approximately 58 km north of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and has 48,724 inhabitants. * Settlements * DesJardi ...

. There was also a line from Cap-Haïtien to Bahon, but it is unclear whether this connected with the Saint-Marc line and whether they were of the same gauge.

Industrial railways

As well as the passenger-carrying railways, there were also industrial railways serving

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

and

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

Closures

By the mid-1950s, two public-service railways totalling remained operating.Sampson, H. (Editor) ''The Dumpy Book of Railways of the World'', page 182, Sampson Low, London, c.1956 All the railways are now closed.

References

External links

{{North America in topic, History of rail transport in

Rail Rail transport in Haiti 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Haiti 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in Haiti fr:Transport ferroviaire à Haïti#Histoire