Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado

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Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado
legal form
founding January 4, 1884
Seat Santiago de Chile , ChileChileChile 
Branch Transport and logistics
Website www.efe.cl

The Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado ( EFE ) is the state railway company of Chile , which operates a broad gauge network with 1676 mm gauge in the south of the country. The 3435 km long network is located south of La Calera and is electrically operated over a length of 850 km. Originally, a 2300 km long meter gauge network in the north of the country also belonged to the railway company, but in 1997 it was sold to the private company Ferronor .

history

Estación Central opened in Santiago de Chile in 1885 with a station concourse by Gustave Eiffel

The EFE was founded on January 4th, 1884 to build up the train service between Santiago de Chile and Valparaíso . Later, EFE took over the railway lines of the saltpetre industry in northern Chile, the first of which was opened in 1851. In 1913 the route network stretched from Iquique in the north to Puerto Montt in the south.

In the 1970s, due to increasing competition from road and air traffic, the EFE got into a financial crisis and could no longer invest enough in its routes. In 1993 a new statute was adopted which restructured the management and created the basis for partial privatization. In 1997 the meter gauge network was sold to the Ferronor company. For the most part, it was in a very poor condition that no longer allowed operation.

In 2005 a comprehensive renovation program was initiated, as a result of which the routes from Santiago to Puerto Montt were renewed. Continuous passenger traffic has not yet been established on a permanent basis. The reasons for this were inadequate rolling stock that was purchased second-hand from the Spanish RENFE .

International connections

There are international connections from Arica to La Paz and from Antofagasta to Argentina . In addition, until 1984 there was the Ferrocarril Trasandino, a meter-gauge railway line with rack sections from Los Andes (rail connection from Santiago) to Mendoza in Argentina. The only standard gauge line in Chile (1435 mm) leads from Arica to Tacna in Peru .

Current operation

Train of the Metro Valparaíso operated by EFE

The following branches of EFE operate passenger transport:

Freight traffic was spun off in 1993 into a private company called Ferrocarril del Pacífico SA (FEPASA) and takes place on the routes south of Santiago.

Planning

There are currently renewal plans for the following routes:

  • Transandenbahn from Los Andes to Mendoza : Initially, the narrow-gauge line was to be reactivated, but now a broad-gauge expansion with electrification and a new tunnel (23 km) is planned. The route is intended to accommodate a large part of the freight traffic between Chile, Argentina and Brazil. The cost of the expansion is estimated at 3 billion US dollars.
  • Arica – La Paz railway line : The line, which was partially destroyed after a flood, is to be rebuilt.

Other railway companies in Chile

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The World Fact Book: Chile. CIA, 2008, accessed February 16, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Volta o Trem No. 10-2: Latin America News: Chile: Temuco – Puerto Montt. Friends of Latin American Railways, March 25, 2006, archived from the original ; accessed on February 16, 2014 .
  3. ^ Through the Andes, not over them. Railway Gazette, March 19, 2008, accessed February 16, 2014 .
  4. ^ Pointers August 2009. Railway Gazette, August 9, 2009, accessed February 16, 2014 .