Puerto Cabello and Valencia Railway

Antonio Guzmán Blanco, who was president of Venezuela for three separate terms, negotiated concessions with British entrepreneurs to build railways between the country's two main cities and their ports.

The use of a narrow gauge to help with the problems caused by hilly terrain was consistent with the principles of the engineer Robert Fairlie, who was involved in surveying near Puerto Cabello in the 1870s.

In accordance with the directions of the engineer John Carruthers,[4] rather than employ a uniform gradient throughout the route, it was decided to build an inclined plane above Las Trincheras.

However, it was proposed that track should be laid to link the two lines, giving the Bolivar Railway access to Puerto Cabello, a better port than Tucacas.

When the Great Venezuela Railway opened in 1894 the two lines were separate, but track was eventually laid to connect Valencia's two termini, Camoruco and San Blas.

[7] In 2016 work on the Puerto Cabello railway was described as "irregular and marked by slow payments by the client as a result of the country’s poor economic conditions, mainly related to the drop in the price of oil."