Railways in

Uruguay

A Stadler Euro4001 4000hp Co-Co diesel electric locomotive of DBCC Transport.

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.

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 erratic. Some services operated out of Montevideo Nueva Terminal from 2012, until 2019 when the Ferrocarril Central line was closed for rehabilitation. In 2018, a service was inaugurated between Tacuarembó and Rivera, a distance of 118km. Currently, a single return journey operates twice weekly.

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 (Site in Spanish)
• DBCC Transport independent freight operator (Site in Spanish)
• RAS Transport independent freight operator
• UPM independent freight operator, currently road only, authorised to become a rail operator (Site in Spanish)
• CFU infrastructure rehabilitation and maintenance contractor (Site in Spanish)
• Montevideo proposed light rail metro (No website located at present)