Ferrocarril del Sur (Peru)
The Peruvian Southern Railway , Spanish Ferrocarril del Sur, is a railway line operated by PeruRail in Peru , which connects the regions of Cusco and Puno with the Pacific coast. In the Crucero Alto train station between Arequipa and Puno , it reaches an altitude of 4,470 m above sea level. M., at the pass La Raya between Juliaca and Cusco 4,314 m above sea level. M.
The route network
The Peruvian Southern Railway runs in standard gauge (a total of 915 km) from the Pacific port of Matarani near Mollendo via Arequipa to Juliaca , where it splits. The eastern branch of the route leads to Puno on Lake Titicaca and the western branch to Cusco , from where a narrow-gauge route continues to Quillabamba .
history
The railway line was originally built to transport agricultural products from the Cusco area to the coast. The combination of Matarani to Juliaca was developed by the German engineer Friedrich Blume traced out , the line was put into operation 1870th In 1908 the connection from Cusco followed.
There was a rail ferry service from Puno across Lake Titicaca to Bolivia , which has since been discontinued.
Today is particularly on the routes Cusco - Machu Picchu - Quillabamba (narrow gauge) and Cusco- La Raya - Juliaca - Puno (standard gauge) tourist traffic instead.
Cusco – Machupicchu – Quillabamba
- Route length 185 km
- Track 914 mm
From the Cusco train station ( Estación San Pedro ) this route leads to the prehistoric Inca settlement Machu Picchu . Construction of the line began in 1913. In 1928, Aguas Calientes , 110 km away from Cusco , was reached. The valley station Machupicchu was reached in 1948 and today's terminus Quillabamba in 1978. The highest point of the route is at 3,678 m above sea level. M.
There are currently three tourist trains and one local train running daily. The Aguas Calientes – Quillabamba section has been in a landslide between the stations Machupicchu and Sta. Teresa is no longer used in 1982, only a few trains run in normal operation as far as a power station 15 km away. A luxury train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes is named Hiram Bingham . This is provided by Orient-Express Hotels Ltd., registered in the Bahamas . which operates luxury hotels and luxuriously equipped tourist trains worldwide.
Cusco-La Raya-Juliaca-Puno
- Route length 380 km
- Track width 1435 mm
This route begins in Cusco's second train station, the Estacion del Sur Wanchaq . For transfers, the two train stations in Cusco are connected by a three-rail track through the city. The operating company PeruRail has two tourist trains that run three days a week. Its highest station, La Raya, on the pass of the same name, is 4,314 m above sea level. M.
Picture gallery
Railway line in the Urubamba Valley
Andean Railway on Lake Titicaca
PeruRail train at Machu Picchu
PeruRail train on the move from Machu Picchu
Web links
- Gerd Hickmann: The railways in Peru - situation in the transport market and privatization plans . International transport 9/1999 , (PDF; 33 kB).
- Homepage in Spanish and English
- PeruRail timetables
Individual evidence
- ^ Georg Petersen, Hartmut Fröschle : The Germans in Peru . In: Hartmut Fröschle (ed.): The Germans in Latin America. Fate and achievement . Erdmann, Tübingen 1979, ISBN 3-7711-0293-6 , pp. 696-741, here p. 709.
- ↑ Orient-Express Investor relations, Corporate Overview (accessed July 24, 2012)