BOGOTA, April 23 — Rusted out and abandoned trains clutter once-bustling train stations in the Colombian capital of Bogota while the chaotic public transport systems collapses almost daily, unable to meet the demand of a growing number of commuters.
In the early 1900s the Colombian government invested heavily to develop the 3,600 kilometres (2236 miles) of railway lines that stretch throughout the South American country, but today they are largely unused after successive governments opted to spend on highways as the favoured mode of transportation.
“This is on the Colombian state, so that they realise what we have lost, what we have neglected. We hope they follow other countries in the world that invest more in railways, so that they don’t leave us as the castaway country of the continent,” said Eduardo Rodriguez, a railway engineer and founder of the ‘La Sabana’ tourist train that runs through the capital.
Rodriguez has worked on Colombia’s railway system his whole life and now, with an air of nostalgia, transports thousands of tourists in renovated steam locomotives that he fixes in Bogota’s Central Station that dates back to 1913.
Luis Fernando Andrade, director of the country’s National Infrastructure Agency, said that while freight trains are currently only used by large coal producers, the ideal would be to expand their use throughout all sectors of the economy.
“Colombia in its way let its trains die. Today only large coal producers us them and what we want to see is that the railway infrastructure is used for all sectors of the economy - for containers, for liquids, for bulk loads, not just coal.” he said.
At one time Colombia’s railway tracks used to link Bogota to the Caribbean city of Santa Marta in the north, running some 950 kilometres (590 miles) traversing Andean landscapes, rivers, and mountains as immortalised in stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Today Colombians and foreign tourists hop on board the La Sabana train as the only way of experiencing what was once the country’s most important transport system.
La Sabana passenger Jose Joaquin explained how many Colombians feel a sense of nostalgia for the bygone train era, saying that he hoped to see a comeback.
“We all come with the same story, the train, the train, the train, and so far, according to what we have seen, it’s been nearly 40 years since trains was abandoned, nobody sets the guidelines in order to progress with our trains. The best countries, the most developed, are those that have a functioning trains system. And we still have the train lines, we have practically everything, and we don’t take advantage of it. That’s the worst part,” said Joaquin.
Bogota, with a population of more than 8 million, is one of the few Latin American capitals of its size that doesn’t have a subway system.
Commuters suffer from long bus lines waits and are often forced to cram into overcrowded buses, while those who drive their own vehicles have to make their way through heavily congested traffic at a snail’s pace.
In recent years, Colombia has taken measures to try and ease the traffic burden in its capital. Back in 2000, it launched a high-profile rapid bus transit system that runs through on an elevated track in the middle of major thoroughfares.
Daniel Camilo Linares, a commuter who uses the city’s overburdened TransMilenio system, said that incorporating trains would help alleviate snarled traffic and cumbersome commutes.
“It seems like an excellent idea to me [the train], for example the 30 [main street in Bogota] would be a good route for a train that would make some stops. This would allow for the movement of a lot more people, and there would be less congestion,” he said.
As Colombians jostle to get in and out of packed buses or try to exhibit patience in headache-inducing traffic jams on streets and highways, many hope that the once enviable train system will be brought back to life. — Reuters
