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: most lines are not electrified. The former Hershey Railway is electrified at 1200V DC.
- Rule of the road: right
Maps
Various schematic maps are available at the Wikipedia Spanish language page.
Timetable
- Online: timetable information 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
As at February 2023, fuel shortages and a lack of serviceable equipment or train crews were severely restricting FCC operations:
- Long-distance "nacional" services from Havana were only running every fourth day to one of four destinations: Guantánamo, Santiago, Holguín or Bayamo/Manzanillo; even with this frequency, these services suffer cancellations and seriously 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) have been suspended for some time with little sign of reinstatement.
Travel by rail over distance is a challenge.
Hershey Railway
This line runs 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; it is electrified at 1200V DC overhead, and is the only electrified railway in Cuba. 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 has been suspended, leaving only Callé 7 to Jaruco operating.
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 situation in 2023 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 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 were operating in 2022 as tourist numbers had not recovered. Again pre-COVID, there was a diesel-hauled, purely tourist operation north from the UNESCO city of Trinidad to at least Iznaga; again the status as of 2023 is unknown. Any reports of active lines would be appreciated by the Compilers.
Metro and light rail systems
None
