The rail system in Paraguay consisted primarily of a 376 km main line of standard gauge between

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

and Encarnación (with a connection to Posadas, Argentina). The infrastructure was administered by Ferrocarriles del Paraguay S.A. (FEPASA), corporation established in 2002. Early in the 21st century, rail transport mostly ceased. Seen from the air, the line Asuncion-Encarnacion will be broken up before 2020, and the long sections "trough" or over the water will have disappeared completely.

Overview

Railroads in Paraguay used

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s until the end of railroad service in 1999. In 1988, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' published an article describing the journey from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Argentina to

, Paraguay. As of 2006, all traffic had been suspended except weekly tourist steam trains between Jardín Botánico de Asunción ( Asunción Botanical Gardens) and the city of

Areguá Areguá is a creative city and the capital of Central Department in Paraguay. It is known for its production of strawberry products, pottery, colonial architecture and historic cobblestone streets. The district lies between the Ypacaraí Lake and t ...

(23 km) plus an additional 15 km section to the village of

Ypacaraí Ypacaraí () is a town in the Central Department of Paraguay on the Lake Ypacarai. On the Paraguayan highway system, it is located between Asunción and Caacupé, near Areguá and San Bernardino. Known as the "City of Folklore" after the Ypaca ...

under renovation and cross-border freight trains between Posadas in Argentina and Encarnación. As of 2007 steam 2-6-0s built between 1910 and 1914 still performed shunting duties. The former main station in Asunción has been converted into a railway museum. As of 2010, following the collapse of an abutment of a bridge on the Rio Ytay, the tourist steam train traffic was suspended until repairs can be effected. In early 2013, freight traffic was down to one train across the border every few weeks, with shunting mainly handled by Argentine diesels. In 2018, the Ferrocarriles del Paraguay S.A. stated on their website that a reopening of a passenger service between Asunción and Yparacaí was in the planning phase.

Link to Argentina

In 2010, the rising level of the Yacyretá Dam flooded the tracks on the Argentine side, which halted grain exports by rail from the Encarnacion goods terminal until a new track was completed, at a higher level, in June 2012.

History

Railways in Paraguay were inaugurated in 1861, during the era of

Carlos Antonio López Carlos Antonio López Ynsfrán (November 4, 1792 – September 10, 1862) was leader of Paraguay from 1841 to 1862. Under his presidency, he undertook a process of economic and political modernization for Paraguay, and ended the isolationist poli ...

. Privatized and renationalized several times, the railroad was finally nationalized in 1961. As of 1988, the 367 km rail system was outdated, wood-powered, slow and costly even with government subsidies. The volume of cargo carried on the railroad declined in the 1970s and 1980s as alternative roads and waterways became more efficient, though some agricultural goods did move by train. In Encarnación, the Paraguayan railroad system connected via

train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry Railroad car, railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with Track (rail transport), railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the f ...

, then since 1990 via the San Roque González de Santa Cruz bimodal road-rail bridge, with the Argentine city of Posadas, which is connected by Ferrocarril General Urquiza to Buenos Aires and the

Uruguayan Uruguayans () are people identified with the country of Uruguay, through citizenship or descent. Uruguay is home to people of different ethnic origins. As a result, many Uruguayans do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizen ...

and Brazilian railroad systems. There also was a small "soybean railroad" near the Brazilian border.Paraguay rail system data
/ref> The capital, Asunción, was served by a tramway network from 1871 until almost the end of the 20th century.

References

External links

Official site of Ferrocarriles del Paraguay (FEPASA)

{{South America in topic, Rail transport in

Overview

Link to Argentina

History

See also

References

External links