Global InformationEmpresa de Ferrocarriles Ecuatorianos information
The Ferrocarriles del Ecuador Empresa Pública (Ecuadorian Railways Company) is the national railway of Ecuador. The railway system was devised to connect the Pacific coast with the Andean highlands. After many decades of service the railway was severely damaged by heavy rainfall during the El Niño in 1997 and 1998[1][2] and from general neglect as the Pan-American Highway siphoned off passengers.[3]
In 2008 the president Rafael Correa named the railroad a "national cultural patrimony" and indicated that it would be restored.[2] The government of Ecuador started to rehabilitate the railway and service was restored between Guayaquil and Quito by 2013.[3][4]
An extensive range of services, primarily for leisure travellers, were operated by steam and diesel-electric locomotive hauled trains and by autoferros (bus bodies mounted on rail chassis).
All railway services ceased in 2020 and by presidential decree the liquidation of the railway company commenced.[5]
- ^ "Plan para rehabilitar ferrocarril". El Universo. June 30, 2005. Retrieved March 23, 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b Mark Holston. "Remnants of an intercontinental railway: considered one of the most difficult engineering tasks in the world, the Guayaquil-Quito Railroad continues to inspire awe and admiration 100 years after its completion". Retrieved March 23, 2009.
- ^ a b Haines, Gavin, "Ecuador’s long-neglected railway system chugs back to life; its founder Eloy Alfaro would be proud," Cuenca High Life, 3 June 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- ^ De Quito a Durán, en tren desde el 2012, promete EFE, El Universo, December 23rd 2009.
- ^ "Ferrocarriles del Ecuador Empresa Pública, En Liquidación: Informe de Rendición de Cuentas". Official Liquidator's Progress Report. 31 December 2021. p. 4. Retrieved 16 December 2022.