Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado

The Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado ( EFE ) is the national railway company of Chile, which operates a network of broad gauge 1676 mm gauge in the south of the country. The 3435 km long network is located south of La Calera and is on a length of 850 km electric companies. Ursrpünglich included a 2300 km long narrow gauge network in the north of the country to the railway company, but this was sold to the private company Ferronor 1997 ..

History

The EFE was founded on January 4, 1884 to build the trains between Santiago de Chile and Valparaíso. Later, the EFE took over the railway lines in the nitrate industry in northern Chile, of which the first line was opened in 1851. In 1913 the route network of Iquique extended in the north to Puerto Montt in the south.

In the 1970s, the EFE fell due to increasing competition from road and air traffic in a financial crisis and could not invest enough in their tracks. In 1993, a new statute was adopted, which abolished the management restructured and the basis for a partial privatization. In 1997, the narrow gauge network was sold to the company Ferronor. It was to a large extent in a very bad state, which allowed no more operating.

2005 launched an extensive renovation program was initiated in consequence of the routes from Santiago to Puerto Montt were renewed. However, a continuous passenger traffic could not yet be established permanently. This was caused by defective rolling stock that was purchased second-hand from the Spanish RENFE.

International connections

International routes are available from Arica to La Paz and from Antofagasta to Argentina. In addition, there were, until 1984, the Ferrocarril trasandino a narrow gauge railway line with rack sections of Los Andes ( rail connection from Santiago) to Mendoza in Argentina. From Arica the only standard gauge track leads Chile ( 1435 mm) to Tacna in Peru.

Current operating

The following branches of EFE operate passenger transport:

  • Ferrocarril del Sur: Long-distance trains under the name Terrasur from Santiago to Chillán, since 1995, as well as regional transport of Talca after Constitucion.
  • Trenes Metropolitanos: Metrotren over Rancagua Santiago to San Fernando.
  • MERVAL: Metro Valparaíso Valparaíso about Viña del Mar to Limache, since 1995.
  • FESUB ( Ferrocarriles Suburbanos de Concepción ), 1995, Regional traffic than Biotrén in Greater Concepción and regional services from Victoria to Temuco.

The freight was founded in 1993 in a private company called Ferrocarril del Pacífico SA ( FEPASA ) spun and takes place on the routes to the south of Santiago.

Planning

Currently consist of renovation plans for the following routes:

  • Trans- Andean Railway from Los Andes to Mendoza: Initially, a reactivation of the narrow gauge line was provided, now a wide-gauge extension with electrification and a newly constructed tunnel (23 km ) is provided. The route is to absorb a large part of the freight traffic between Chile, Argentina and Brazil. The cost of the expansion are estimated at 3 billion U.S. dollars.
  • Route Arica - La Paz: The after a flood destroyed part of route to be rebuilt.

Other railway companies in Chile

Types of business entity La Calera (Chile) Metre gauge Los Andes (Chile) San Fernando (Chile)
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