Rail transport in the Dominican Republic

Rail transport in the Dominican Republic is provided by one state-owned operator and several private ones, mainly for sugar mills. There are no connections with the neighbouring Haiti.

Rail map of 1925
Juan Pablo Duarte station of Santo Domingo Metro
A couple of Alstom Metropolis 9000 Series used for Santo Domingo Metro
Trackage for the Central Romana sugarcane railroad. This line goes to the Zona Franca.

History

The first line, connecting Santo Domingo to Puerto Plata through Santiago de los Caballeros, was opened in 1877.[1]

System

National railways

The network consists of several lines, for freight and passenger transport, using several gauges. Due to the closure of some of them, during the 20th Century, the network has been partly reduced to a series of scattered branches, mainly concentrated around the cities of San Pedro de Macorís and La Romana.

The list below shows an overview about the original network:

  • Central Romana Railroad was established in 1911 in the sugarcane fields. The total length of the line is 757 km (470 mi), 375 km (233 mi) being the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge.
  • The Dominican Republic Government Railway is a 142 km (88 mi) 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge railway.
  • There are 240 km (149 mi) operated by other sugarcane companies in various gauges: 557 mm (21 15⁄16 in), 762 mm (2 ft 6 in), 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauges (1995).

Urban railways
See also: Santo Domingo Metro and Santiago Light Rail

The first rapid transit system opened in the state, inaugurated at the end of 2008, is a metro network serving the capital Santo Domingo. It consists of two lines for a total length of 27.4 km, with planned expansion.[2][3][4] A light rail system has been planned for Santiago de los Caballeros, the second Dominican city.[5][6]

See also

References
  1. (in Spanish) An article about the history of Dominican railways (Diario Libre)
  2. Santo Domingo Metro at urbanrail.net
  3. (in Spanish) Santo Domingo Metro Line 1 overview Archived 2013-10-21 at the Wayback Machine (OPRET official website)
  4. (in Spanish) Santo Domingo Metro Line 2 overview Archived 2013-09-30 at the Wayback Machine (OPRET official website)
  5. "Proyecto tranvía de Santiago se encuentra estancado" Archived 2008-02-10 at the Wayback Machine (Diario Libre)
  6. Santiago Light Rail at subways.net

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