Railways in

Uruguay

A train of CFU at a works site in the city of Tacuarembó.
The locomotive is a General Electric C18-7i 1800hp Co-Co diesel electric built in 1993.

The first railway in Uruguay opened in 1868 between Bella Vista and the La Paz river, a distance of about 12km. The line was extended across the river and into Las Piedras later in the year, being officially inaugurated on 1st January, 1869. It was built to standard (1435mm) gauge, also used for the greater part of the subsequent expansion into most parts of the country. A number of important narrow gauge lines, of various gauges, were also built but these have all closed, except for a short section of one line.

Passenger and freight services had declined considerably by the start of the 21st century and many lines had closed. A program of rehabilitation and reopening is being undertaken for freight traffic, but revival of passenger traffic has been very slow. In 2012, a service was inaugurated on the line betweeen Montevideo Nueva Terminal and 25 de Agosto was introduced in 2012. Trains operate twice daily, with extra trains within the urban area. In 2018, a daily service was introduced between Nueva Terminal and Sudriers.

There is an international connection with Argentina at Salto. An international connection with Brazil takes the form of a line across the border to Santana do Livramento, where the standard gauge tracks of AFE interchange traffic with the metre gauge tracks of Rumo ALL in Brazil.

• AFE infrastructure authority and passenger services on the national network
• SELF independent freight operator (Site in Spanish)
• Portren independent freight operator on the rehabilitated 273km Ferrocarril Central route to Montevideo from the UPM Paso de los Toros pulp mill, services planned to commence with the opening of the mill, currently expected during 2023 (No website located at present)
• CFU infrastructure rehabilitation and maintenance contractor (Site in Spanish)