The first railway in Puerto Rico opened in 1890 from the capital, San Juan, to Camuy, a distance of around 63 miles (100km). It was constructed by a Spanish company, and appears to have been built to metre gauge, although some reports (notably from American sources) record the gauge as 3ft (914mm). The line was taken over in the early 20th century by an American company, the American Railroad of Puerto Rico. It was subsequently extended to Ponce.
The original main line closed in 1957. A handful of metre gauge lines serving the sugar cane industry survived into the 1980s, closing with the decline of that industry. In 1988 a short (¼ mile, 0.4 km) standard gauge (4ft 8½in, 1435mm) line was built to connect the pharmaceuticals plant of PharmaChem (now Chemex) with the port of Ponce, from where a train ferry service was introduced connecting with Mobile, Alabama. This remains the only freight line currently operating on the island.
In 2004 a new 10.7 mile (17.2km) metro system opened serving San Juan and neighbouring communities. It is built to standard gauge.
© 2006-2011
Glyn Williams
Flag images from CIA World Factbook
