The first railway in Paraguay opened in 1861 between Asunción and Trinidad, a distance of about 4km. It was not, as claimed by some, the first railway in Latin America (that was in Cuba), nor the first railway on the South American continent (that was in Guyana).
The new Paraguayan line was originally built to Iberian (1675mm) gauge, but, after the line reached the national border at Encarnación, it was regauged to standard (1435mm) gauge to allow through running with the North Western Railway of Argentina. The network was never very extensive; by the 1990s it consisted of around 440km of line. By the turn of the century, all operations had ceased.
In 2002, a concession was awarded to a private company to restore services for passengers and freight. About 6km of line were reopened from Encarnación to a border connection with the Argentinian network, and used successfully for a number of years, mainly from soya bean exports. However, construction of a new dam meant that the line would become flooded and it closed in 2006. In 2011, the Government of Paraguay invited tenders for the construction of a 7.5km replacement line.
At the northern end of the main line, a tourist steam train sevice was inaugurated between Botánico station in Asunción and Aregua, a distance of about 25km. A bridge collapse in 2010 means that the train is out of service at the time of writing, although it is hoped to restore services by late 2010 or early 2011.
Projects for the reopening of other lines are being examined.
© 2006-2011
Glyn Williams
Flag image from CIA World Factbook
