Cuba
Country Details
See Wikipedia
National Railway System
Ferrocarriles de Cuba (FCC), which does not appear to have a website.
- UIC code: numeric 40; alpha CU
Infrastructure
- Gauge: standard
- Electrification: Only the former Hershey Railway from Havana Casablanca to Matanzas and some of its branches were electrified at 1200V DC, see specific paragraph below.
- Rule of the road: right
Maps
Various schematic maps are available at the Wikipedia Spanish language page.
Timetable
- Online: timetable information, or more accurately details of what has been known to operate rather than accurate current details is available at The Man in Seat 61 and Fahrplancenter.
- Printed: summary timetables are included in the European Rail Timetable. It is not known if FCC publishes a printed timetable.
Note
Fuel shortages and a lack of serviceable equipment, especially locomotives continue to severely restrict FCC operations:
- Long-distance "nacional" services from Havana at best run twice a week to potentially Guantánamo, Santiago, Holguín or Bayamo/Manzanillo; but even with this frequency suffer cancellations and serious late running.
- Many local services (e.g. Santa Clara - Moron - Nuevitas, Santa Clara - Cienfuegos, Santiago - Manzanillo, Guantánamo - Holguín, Matanzas - Los Arabos, Havana Coubre - Guines - Palos) are either long term suspended or are very unreliable, they can run for short periods then literally cease overnight.
Long distance travel by any form of public transport is a challenge with all internal flights suspended, large parts of the motorway bus network not operating and the unreliability of the "Nacional" and local trains.
Hershey Railway
This passenger service is from Havana Casablanca station (accessed by ferry from Havana Vieja) via Hershey to Matanzas, with a branch from a separate "Callé 7" station in Hershey (adjacent to the line depot) to Jaruco and is the only electrified railway in Cuba at 1200V DC overhead. It was built by the Hershey Chocolate Corporation to typical US interurban standards, and was merged into FCC when Cuba's railways were nationalised after the 1959 revolution.
Following significant hurricane damage in late 2017 there has been no service from Casablanca to Hershey, and subsequently the Hershey - Matanzas service was suspended leaving only the 13km branch from Callé 7 to Jaruco operating as at May 2024.
Other Railways
In 2018 the narrow gauge Rafael Freyre Sugar Mill system operated railbus passenger services some distance into the surrounding hills to villages with no road access, plus steam for purely tourist services; the current situation is not known. Additionally many rural areas (e.g. around Manati) have private company services on private tracks operated literally by "buses" on rail wheels but details are almost impossible to confirm.
Tourist Lines
Pre-COVID, there were a handful of former standard gauge sugar cane mills providing steam hauled rides up to around 5km into the surrounding fields as part of the visitor experience, including Jose Smith Comas, Australia, Marcelo Saledo, Patria o'Muerte. It is believed none are now offering rides as tourist numbers have not recovered. Again pre-COVID, there was a diesel-hauled, purely tourist operation north from the UNESCO city of Trinidad to at least Iznaga but the current status is unknown. Any reports of active lines would be appreciated by the Compilers.
Metro and light rail systems
None
Obscure and Sparse Passenger Services
Most if not all railway services are infrequent. The latest known sources of online information are:
- The Man in Seat Sixty-One for main line services, and
- the Fahrplancenter website - timetables from various dates
Potential travellers may find it useful to subscribe to the Cuban Railways io.Group The following entries are intended only to highlight services that do not run all year, or which take a different route from the norm, and are from informed sources - details of any additional entries and timetable information would be welcomed by the Compilers.
Enlace Gas [FCC Linea Central] – Enlace Ramal Cuadra [Hershey] CU1
Daily (except Mondays) from mid July to end of August/early September 75 09:00 Habana Patio de Carga (Goods depot) - Playas del Este 76 18:05 Playas del Este - Habana Patio de Carga See this press report from 2023. Service confirmed as running in 2024 - the above services applied in 2023 - check locally for current timings. Report updated: July 2024
Guanabo – Playas del Este CU2
This 1.9km branch is served only by trains shown in entry CU1. Other services the western section of the Hershey Railway remain suspended on account of 2017 hurricane damage, so there is no rail alternative to reach Guanabo.Report updated: July 2024
Habana La Coubre CU3
Havana's Central station and its ca. 1km High Line approach are largely closed while the station building undergoes refurbishment. Although the daily long distance arrival uses the Elevados (viaduct) line and a single platform of Central station, work is still far from complete so departing long distance services are using a low level platform at La Coubre station (which is restricted to one train at a time), and a ground level route which runs directly underneath a large part of the metal High Line viaduct. Report updated: May 2024
