Cargo and Passenger Transport by Rail on the Increase

Cargo and passenger transport by Cuba’s railway system is on the increase in Cuba. At a review of the Railroad Recovery and Development Program led by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz at the Palace of the Revolution, Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez insisted that the impact that was set in motion in 2019 will be achieved in new year.

President Díaz-Canel emphasized the need to prioritize transportation of cargo by rail in 2020 as a more efficient means of cargo transport for the Cuban economy.

“You have to transport everything that can be done through that route because of the shape of our country it is the best way to move loads,” he said. “Much of the weight that our roads are supporting today is reduced.”

According to the director of the Union of Railways of Cuba, Eduardo Hernández Becerra, last year’s plan for cargo transportation reached an all-time high of 91% when compared to 2018. A total of 852 million tons, an increase of 7%, in products such as sugarcane, fuels, imported foods, and wheat flour were transported by rail.

In the last quarter of 2019, Hernández said some cargo previously transported by car was now shipped by rail and had contributed to savings in fuel. He gave an example of plastic pipes, grains, bottled water and beer transported from the port of Cienfuegos to Camagüey.

Hernández said the greatest gaps that remain were in the transportation of products derived from sugarcane, fuels, imported foods, and wheat flour. He emphasized that railway transport previously done by truck transportation would contribute to fuel energy conservation.

On the subject of the transportation of passengers, the director said that use of passenger train service had increased by 130%, moving more than 717,00 passengers last year, when compared to 2018 (62%).

The increase in passenger transport by rail was influenced by the introduction of the new Chinese trains which began last July.

The railway system in Cuba is undergoing renovations and upgrades by the Russians who signed an agreement last June with Cuba.

Cuba was the first country in Latin America and the seventh in the world to have its own railway system. The Spanish built the first steam railway line in 1837.