# CUBA | Railways



## OJAL (Jun 3, 2010)

Great stuff and encouraging but would have loved a more complete story...transaction amount, what the other 200 cars will be, delivery timeframe, etc.


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## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

From Rail Journal:



> http://www.railjournal.com/index.ph...s-75-locomotives-from-sinara.html?channel=528
> 
> *Cuban Railways orders 75 locomotives from Sinara*
> Monday, July 25, 2016
> ...


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## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

From Rail Journal:



> http://www.railjournal.com/index.ph...ises-cuban-locomotive-design.html?channel=536
> 
> *Lyudinovo finalises Cuban locomotive design*
> Friday, October 14, 2016
> ...


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## Guajiro1 (Dec 23, 2012)

Guantanamo-Havana passenger service passing by Dos Caminos, Santiago de Cuba province:


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## Guajiro1 (Dec 23, 2012)

Nice curve pass by near Combinado San Luis Station, Santiago de Cuba:


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## lechevallierpatrick (Nov 22, 2012)

Guajiro1 said:


> Nice curve pass by near Combinado San Luis Station, Santiago de Cuba:


These are new carriages...Do they replace the "Tren Frances"?.We need more news from Cuban Railways.... Beautiful vidéos!


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## Guajiro1 (Dec 23, 2012)

^^ Yes! Cuba is in the midst of a plan to have their entire railway system completely modernized by 2030. There are already long distance passenger services from Havana to Santiago, Holguin and Guantanamo, stopping in many towns and cities in between; all with brand new trains, tracks and renewed stations.
The passenger cars are Chinese, and the locomotives and tracks and other infraestructure are Russian. The Cubans are taking care of renewing the many train stations. Here's a video from 2019:





This was all possible thanks to a loan taken after the Obama administration eased the embargo restrictions. This, like many other things, goes to show that despite what some people say, the embargo is indeed an obstacle for Cuba's development.


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## mgk920 (Apr 21, 2007)

Cuban railroads are still fully compatible with those of North America and whenever the embargo is ended can interchange freely with them, too, correct?

The Florida East Coast ('FEC') railroad has been chomping at the bit for decades now to be able to restart their Miami-La Habana car float service, for example.

Mike


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## flierfy (Mar 4, 2008)

mgk920 said:


> Cuban railroads are still fully compatible with those of North America and whenever the embargo is ended can interchange freely with them, too, correct?


Cuba is a landmass of its own. It will never interchange rolling stock with anyone freely.


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## GojiMet86 (Jan 3, 2016)

flierfy said:


> Cuba is a landmass of its own. It will never interchange rolling stock with anyone freely.


The float services probably not; for the first part I think he means standard gauge. They should be the same, 4' 8.5".


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## Guajiro1 (Dec 23, 2012)

^^ Yes, the gauge used in Cuba keeps being 4' 8.5''.

Here's a freighter in the Central Line (the Cuban system's "central backbone") going from Paquito to Mella, in Santiago de Cuba province:


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## lechevallierpatrick (Nov 22, 2012)

It is a nice to have some recent news about Cuban railways! I have been to Cuba many times and of course I rode the railways too....Beautiful country and great people,they deserve so much more than a stupid embargo!


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## mgk920 (Apr 21, 2007)

Guajiro1 said:


> ^^ Yes, the gauge used in Cuba keeps being 4' 8.5''.
> 
> Here's a freighter in the Central Line (the Cuban system's "central backbone") going from Paquito to Mella, in Santiago de Cuba province:


Yea, the track gauge, coupling, braking, etc, technical standards appear to be fully compatible, except that it looks like Cuban railroads have a smaller allowed loading gauge. IIRC, Cuban railroads did interchange directly with other North American railroads via the Miami-La Habana car float before 1959.

It's like how the Alaska Railroad interchanges with the rest of North America's railroads via their car float service to Seattle, even though they otherwise have no direct rail connections.

Mike


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## Guajiro1 (Dec 23, 2012)

Central Line passing over Bayamo Line:


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## Guajiro1 (Dec 23, 2012)

Today I found out that there has been work done also in the system's western line. Although the passenger services are still ran with old trains, the tracks and stations have been renewed. It goes from Havana to Pinar del Rio, passing by several other towns including Artemisa, capital of the namesake province. Here we can see a passenger train arriving at Guanajay station in Artemisa province, and you can clearly see the new tracks:


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## Klausenburg (Jul 25, 2007)

lechevallierpatrick said:


> great people,they deserve so much more than a stupid embargo!


As well as they deserve to be able to speak their own opinion about the government and the state of the country. You don't have the slightest idea what a dictatorship is!


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## lechevallierpatrick (Nov 22, 2012)

Klausenburg said:


> As well as they deserve to be able to speak their own opinion about the government and the state of the country. You don't have the slightest idea what a dictatorship is!


Of course!


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## Guajiro1 (Dec 23, 2012)

Klausenburg said:


> As well as they deserve to be able to speak their own opinion about the government and the state of the country. You don't have the slightest idea what a dictatorship is!


And you clearly don't have the slightest idea of what Cuba is like. Cubans constantly complain about even the most trivial thing and blame the government for even the tiniest issue, it's almost a national sport. They speak their minds just like everywhere else. Contrary to what Miami exiles want you to believe, Cuba isn't North Korea.


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## Klausenburg (Jul 25, 2007)

Guajiro1 said:


> Cuba isn't North Korea.


Amigo, I was born in a communist country which was not North Korea. Therefore, please go and sing at another table.


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## Guajiro1 (Dec 23, 2012)

So? Not all countries are the same. I'm half Cuban, I have lived in the country for years and have visited it several times, and I keep in constant contact with people who live on the island, so I know its reality much better than you. Inform yourself instead of stating your prejudices and suppositions as facts.


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