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

History

Gauges

All railways in Bolivia are now Metre gauge. The

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American wars ...

to Uyuni line was originally gauge.

Maps

File:Railway map of Bolivia 1942.JPG File:Ferrocarril-Arica-La-Paz.jpg

FCAB Line from Antofagasta

Rail link to Peru

Bolivia built a line to the shores of

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, i ...

Lines in the south, east

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) in the north center of the country, but never reached there, it ended north of Yapacani (150 km), from where since 2014 an industrial spur is under construction to the ammonia/urea factory near Bulo Bulo (60 km). Spur lines were run to mining districts and the regional capital of Cochabamba.

Mamore and Madeira Railway

Another railway was a local line in the Amazonian jungle. The Madeira-Mamoré Railroad runs in a loop around the unnavigable section to Guajará-Mirim on the Mamoré River.

Steel lines to the Silver at Potosi

Rio Mulatos-Potosí line The Rio Mulatos- Potosí line is a railway line in Bolivia, containing Cóndor station, the world's ninth highest railway station (). It was the world's second (after Ticlio, in Peru) until the completion of the Tanggula railway station on the ...

is a train line in Bolivia, containing Cóndor station, the world's second highest railway station (4,786 m).

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. 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 Sacaba, Sakawa is a capital city and a municipality in the Bolivian province of Chapare. The city, located 13 kilometers eastward from Cochabamba, is the second largest city in the Cochabamba Department after Cochabamba city. Post-colonial archit ...

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

International rail links to adjacent countries

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

– yes – both countries *

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

– yes – gauge both countries *

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

– yes – gauge both countries *

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

–

Shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

car float A railroad car float or rail barge is a specialised form of lighter with railway tracks mounted on its deck used to move rolling stock across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go. An unpowered barge, it is towed by a t ...

from railhead in Guaqui to railhead in Puno across

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.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

* Historia de los ferrocarriles en Bolivia
Ferrocarriles Bolivia. Del anhelo a la frustración. Desarrollo, producción, economía y dependencia.Empresa Ferroviaria Andina (FCA)Empresa Ferroviaria Oriental S.A.Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a BoliviaFerrocarril de Guaqui a La PazViaje en tren entre Sucre y Potosí
{{South America in topic, Rail transport in