Rail transport in Central America
Other railroads in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama were built by private and public investors mainly to facilitate the transport of local agricultural produce (bananas, coconuts, coffee) to export markets and harbors.
As of 2018, railroads operate locally in Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama only; all rail transport has been suspended in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Historically, the major line - Stann Creek Railway [1] built by the British Honduras Syndicate and later used by the United Fruit - connected Middlesex Estate with Dangriga port along present-day Hummingbird Highway between 1913 and 1937.
Railroads in Costa Rica are managed by state owned Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles, Incofer, and are of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge, the same as Honduras and Nicaragua.
Incofer runs the Interurbano Line around San José and freight trains in the Caribbean for ArcelorMittal operations.
At present, this agency oversees 554.8 km of disused tracks, connecting major cities and formerly linked to Guatemala railroads at Anguiatú.
The line from Texis Junction to Santa Ana and Ahuachapán has been dismantled and the soil of it given away to people who lost their houses during an earthquake, today it is probably the longest and narrowest slum.
(June 2011) Most of the rail and steel bridges have now been dismantled by thieves meaning there now no possibility that service can be reinstated without millions of dollars' worth of investment in rebuilding it.
In 1912, the network was acquired by United Fruit Company, named IRCA and developed to connect Guatemala City with the Pacific coast (Puerto San José), Atlantic coast (Puerto Barrios), El Salvador (Anguiatú), Mexico (Ciudad Tecún Umán - change of gauges (restored [3]) 1,435 mm or 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in / 914 mm or 3 ft) and other places.
There were attempts to connect both coasts, but they all failed; except for a few isolated lines in the North, almost all of the network was in the Pacific basin.
It provided a vital transport link between the eastern United States and California during the mid 19th century and was used for the construction of the Panama Canal.
This railroad (Ferrocarril de Chiriquí) was inaugurated on April 23, 1916 with the first train on a steep mountain line from David to Boquete.
In the beginning of the 21st century, the tracks of the defunct railroads are being dismantled and reused for construction of bridges in rural areas.
[5] The Chiriqui Land Co. operated 2 railways systems, one in Puerto Armuelles (Pacific) and in Changuinola to Almirante Port (Caribbean), used to transport bananas and company equipment.
