| Rail transport in Colombia | |
| Gauge1: | Narrow gauge |
| Gauge1length: | 3154km (1,960miles) |
| Gauge2: | Standard gauge |
| Gauge2length: | 150km (90miles) |
The Colombian railway network has a total length of 3304km (2,053miles). There are 150km (90miles) of connecting Cerrejón coal mines, Tren del Cerrejón, to the maritime port of Puerto Bolivar at Bahia Portete, and 3154km (1,960miles) of narrow gauge of which 2611km (1,622miles) are in use.[1] The state-owned railway company, Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Colombia (National Railways of Colombia), was liquidated in the 1990s. Since then passenger rail service in Colombia is provided only as tourist steam trains on the Bogotá savanna railway, now called Turistren, and between Bogotá and Zipaquirá, and a general daily passenger service around Barrancabermeja, and its surroundings (Puente Sogamoso, Garcia Cadena, Puerto Berrio, and Puerto Parra), provided by Coopsercol.
Railway concessions were awarded on July 27, 1999, to Ferrocarriles del Norte de Colombia S.A. (FENOCO), as the Atlantic concession, and on November 4, 1998, to the Sociedad Concesionaria de la Red Férrea del Pacífico SA, later named Tren de Occidente SA as the Pacific concession. Since 1991 the section La Loma – Puerto Drummond, with 192km (119miles), transports coal. Also from July 2003, the section Bogotá - Belencito, with 257km (160miles), is operating on the Atlantic concession transporting cement. In the Pacific concession the section between La Paila and Buenaventura has a total of 292km (181miles).
In November 2009, the Colombian government set up a new team of consultants and specialists to oversee the estimated $440m Sistema Ferroviario Central railway concession. The project involves building a 1050km (650miles) railway from La Dorada to Chiriguaná, linking Colombia's central area to the Santa Marta port on the Atlantic coast. Part of the proposed project are the construction of the La Dorada stretch, renovating the stretches connecting the districts of La Dorada and Buenos Aires, Puerto Berrío, Envigado and La Dorada and Facatativá, and maintaining the Chiriguaná-Buenos Aires stretch. The tender was suspended due to concerns of corruption, but restarted in February 2011.[2]
There is a US$600 million investment programme planned for 2008 and studies for a US$350 million new line between Puerto Berrío and Saboya.[3] Under this contract sections of the Atlantic network Neiva – Villavieja and 177km (110miles) Ibagué – La Dorada would be built. Other sections to be built include Sogamoso – Tunja and Puerto Berrío – Cisneros.
China is looking into constructing a 220km (140miles) stretch of railway that would complete the link between the port cities Buenaventura and Cartagena, connecting Colombia's Pacific and Caribbean coasts. This railway alternative would compete with the Panama Canal.[4] [5] [6] Besides linking two coasts, the railway's aim is to make the import Colombian coal and the export of Chinese manufactured goods to the Americas easier. Colombia hopes China's growing economic presence in the region will further the ratification of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, the country's biggest trading partner.
A £47m agreement between the Colombian Ministry of Transport and UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on February 3, 2014, plans to allow for the rehabilitation of two narrow gauge railway lines (one, 750km (470miles) line from La Dorada to Chiriguaná and a second, 300km (200miles) line from Belencito to Bogotá).[7] The construction will use local contractors and is expected to take 18 to 24 months. The lines will be for freight traffic and the government is funding the construction but plans to privatize the route upon completion.[7]
See main article: Railway stations in Colombia.
See main article: Medellín Metro. Medellín is the only city thus far (2023) to have built a metro (rapid transit) system. Planning for a Bogotá Metro has been underway for years, and is hoped to open in 2028. Construction started in October 2020.
| Railway | Line | Construction period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ferrocarril de Bolívar | Barranquilla - Puerto Salgar - Puerto Colombia | 1869-1873 | |
| Ferrocarril de Santa Marta | Santa Marta - Ciénaga - Aracataca - Fundación | 1881-1906 | |
| Ferrocarril de Cartagena | Cartagena - Calamar | 1889-1894 | |
| Ferrocarril de Girardot | Girardot - Apulo - Facatativá (connection with FC de La Sabana) | 1881-1909 | |
| Ferrocarril de La Sabana y Cundinamarca | Bogotá - Facatativá - Puerto Salgar | 1881-1909 | |
| Ferrocarril del Norte | 1889-1935 | ||
| Ferrocarril del Sur | Soacha - Sibaté - Bogotá (connection with FC de La Sabana) - Tequendama Falls | 1895-1927 | |
| Ferrocarril del Oriente | Puente Nuñez - Fucha River - Yomasa - Usme | 1914-1931 | |
| Ferrocarril del Carare | 1925-1928 | ||
| Ferrocarril del Nordeste | Bogotá - Usaquén - Albarracín - Tunja - Sogamoso - Paz del Río | 1925-1938 | |
| Ferrocarril del Pacífico | Buenaventura - Córdoba - Dagua - Yumbo - Cali - Palmira - Buga - Tuluá - Bugalagrande - Zarzal - Cartago and Cali - Jamundí - Popayán | 1872-1927 | |
| Ferrocarril del Tolima-Huila | Girardot - Ibagué (connection with FC Armenia) - Chicoral - Espinal - Villavieja - Neiva | 1893-1937 | |
| Ferrocarril de Antioquia | Puerto Berrío - Pavas - Medellín | 1874-1914 | |
| Ferrocarril Armenia - Ibagué | Armenia (connection with FC Pacífico) - Ibagué (connection with FC Tolima) | 1914-1949 | |
| Ferrocarril de Caldas | Pereira - Puerto Caldas - Manizales and Pereira - Quimbaya - Armenia (connection with FC Pacífico) | 1915-1929 | |
| Ferrocarril de Cúcuta | Cúcuta - Puerto Santander - Venezuela and Cúcuta - Río Táchira | 1878-1888 | |
| Ferrocarril del Atlántico | Puerto Wilches - Puerto Berrío, Puerto Salgar - Puerto Berrío - Gamarra - Fundación y La Dorada - Puerto Berrío | 1950-1961 |
Brazil – no
Ecuador – no
Peru – no
Panama – no