VENEZUELA | Railways

[Railfan]

VENEZUELA'S RAILWAY SYSTEM

The Venezuelan network includes 682 km of rail in standard gauge [1]. The network covers the populated and production areas in the country, and is managed by IAFE under various Regional Development Plans. There are also connections between Colombia and Brazil that link to the other countries of South America, although traffic in the border areas are affected by foreign policy and defence strategy.

IAFE is the sole operator of trains in Venezuela, however, they have created various railway names assigned to different regions throughout the country.

Historically, much of the original Venezuelan network was designed in the 19th century in the Federalist period and under the administration of Antonio Guzmán Blanco, in order to open up the country for trade and earn foreign revenues. However, the first licenses were signed and revoked nine times before the first stretch was operating[2]. The first lines connected Caracas to its port of La Guaira and then Valencia in the 1870s–80s. Notable engineers associated with its original development include: John Grover and Robert Fairlie. Some of the later lines were designed by William A. Welch and Thomas Kavanagh (Caracas subway).

Rail transport in Venezuela was neglected and went into a major decline from the 1950s, with bus and road transport taking its place, just Caracas maintaining its 51 km of subway system and local railway.

The 1999 Constitution was a signal for a major reinvestment in the infrastructure of the state. Much of the renovation of the current Venezuelan railway network is still at the planning stage, with some already constructed and the rest to be built over a period of about 30 years.

[Railfan]

Caracas – Cúa Branch

After 70 years without major improvements to the Venezuelan railway system the first of an ambitious plan that proposes many new lines, in particular, the Caracas – Cúa one of many Tuy Valley cities a distance of 41 km (25 miles) was opened for public service on October 15, 2006.

The route is part of the Ezequiel Zamora railway axis starts from Caracas and ends in Cúa Miranda State. The main terminal is located next to the Caracas Metro (subway) line 3 La Rinconada Terminal Station.

This short North-South line can be passenger travelled in approximately, 30 minutes, the following are the names of the 4 stations and the estimated travel time from Caracas and then the additional time to the next station. Also there is a delay time before the train restarts the trip which can be adjusted by management policy.



I´m in the train


Charallave Norte


inside the train

[Railfan]

Caracas - Cua 43Km - 100Km/h
1435mm Gauge

Cua Station

[islandtransit]

AWESOME! That planned network is HUGE!

[Kuvvaci]

wonderful thread please keep posting new pix. But if you resize the map, it could be better...

[Railfan]

Originally Posted by Kuvvaci

wonderful thread please keep posting new pix. But if you resize the map, it could be better...

Map is resize

[Joeman]

Looks good, shame about Venezuela politics.

[JoKo65]

Why?

[amirtaheri]

I think he means that he isn't a fan of Hugo Chavez. Personally, I don't agree with his politics, but at least he is investing in the national infrastructure. More than could be said for some national leaders who dither about struggling to decide whether or not Heathrow should get a third runway or whether or not to approve Crossrail or even approve a line extension.

[Railfan]

This rail system is necessary for venezuela, with chavez or widoth chaves, venezuela need this reail interconection.

[Railfan]

Puerto Cabello – Yaritagua – Barquisimeto Branch

The main branch of the Simón Bolívar railway axis is a 177 km (106 miles) east-west line where a full upgrade/restoration is in progress with a projected completion set for then end of 2010. This line connects Carabobo State, Yaracuy State and Lara State. The stations are as follows:

* Puerto Cabello, Carabobo State;
* Morón, Carabobo State;
* San Felipe, Yaracuy State;
* Urama, Yaracuy State;
* Chivacoa, Yaracuy State;
* Yaritagua, Yaracuy State and;
* Barquisimeto, Lara State.

Yaritagua – Acarigua Branch

Another branch of the Simón Bolívar railway axis is a 113 km (69 miles) north-south line connection between the Yaritagua, Yaracuy State, Acarigua, Portuguesa State where a full upgrade restoration is in progress.

New trains use in this line







Testing on china

CKD4C high power diesel locomotive is used for the railway transportation business in the middle and western area of Venezuela namely: Cabello - Barquisimeto and Yaritagua - Acarigua.

CKD4C diesel locomotive is high power AC-DC diesel locomotive for trunk line heavy-loaded freight locomotive. This locomotive is equipped with 16V28OZJA diesel engine, JF204D synchronous main generator and ZD109E traction motor, adopting monocoque fuel tank and running gear of 3-axle bogie with weight of 25 ton.



The main power system of DMU for Venezuela adopts the mode of diesel hydraulic transmission. This DMU is composed of two motor cars with driver’s cab and three trailers in the middle. Two DMUs can beoperated tandemly. The cross section of the carbody meets UIC506-C loading gauge. One CAT 3508B diesel engine is mounted on the motor car to transmit traction force to front bogie throught one SF2010 hydraulic transmission device. One MTAl1-G1 diesel engine and one AC generator are set to supply 400V, 50Hz three-phase AC power for air conditioner system in the rear trailer. One BCI184E24 generator supplies 120V, 60Hz AC power for the lighting system. One DC generator in the motor car provides 110V DC power for the control system and emergency power supply system of the whole DMU.

There are passenger rooms in the motor car and trailer with hard seats. There are air conditioners, cooling drinking water machine and western type stool in the car, and sanitary box with capacity of 400L under the car. There are telephone system, PLC tandemly control system and colour liquid crystal display screen, enabling the central control of lighting, air conditioning, sliding door and information display system.

[imaginas]

¡Muchas Gracias!

[Railfan]

A la orden

[santobonao]

muy bonitos ferrocarriles que tiene venezuela.

[Kuvvaci]

very nice trains. wonderful development...

[Railfan]

Line Caracas-Cua

43KM
100km/h

[Railfan]

Suburban Caracas-Cua

[hoosier]

Originally Posted by Railfan

This rail system is necessary for venezuela, with chavez or widoth chaves, venezuela need this reail interconection.

Only a leader like Chavez has the concern for the welfare of the people and country to start and initiate something like this. A conservative, neoliberal leader would never attempt something like this or would set up some crony sweetheart deal with a foreign multinational that would produce a sub standard product.

[Le moro tyrannique]

Nice to see that trains are being improved in Venezuela in such a good way.

I´d like to travel to Venezuela to check what does the people think about Chavez and all the political situation in situ. Sometimes i have the feeling that i´m only getting one side of the history through the media or even through venezuelan forumers i have met on the net or here in Europe...most of then living outside venezuela i must add.

[Railfan]

Le moro tyrannique you are welcome in Venezuela