Empresa de Ferrocarriles Ecuatorianos
After many decades of service the railway was severely damaged by heavy rainfall during the El Niño in 1997 and 1998[1][2] and from general neglect as the Pan-American Highway siphoned off passengers.
[2] The government of Ecuador started to rehabilitate the railway and service was restored between Guayaquil and Quito by 2013.
[3][4] An extensive range of services, primarily for leisure travellers, were operated by steam and diesel-electric locomotive hauled trains and by autoferros (bus bodies mounted on rail chassis).
[8] The push into the Andes was made under President Eloy Alfaro who planned to link Quito in the highlands to Guayaquil on the coast of Ecuador.
For advice, Alfaro turned to Col. William Findlay Shunk, a well-known North American engineer who designed the New York El, and who had mapped a route of the InterContinental Railway (which was to connect North and South America) through Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama in 1892.
Commenced from Ambato (on the G&Q Southern Division), reached Pelileo (35 km) and was intended to continue to Baños de Agua Santa, located on the banks of the Pastaza River then intended to extend until it crossed the Arajuno River and reached a navigable point on the Curaray, a total length of 117 km.
The 446.7 kilometres (277.6 mi) Southern Division (Division Sur) starts at the harbour of Guayaquil with a track to Duran and then heads east into the Andean mountains where a more than 2.5 kilometres (8,200 ft) difference in altitude has to be overcome to reach Riobamba at 2,754 metres (9,035 ft).
A major gain in altitude is made at the Devil's Nose (Nariz del Diablo) where the train shunts back and forth along the rocky promontory.
[8] It connects Quito to the northern sea port of San Lorenzo over Ibarra, Primer Paso and Cachavi.
[8] Few steam and diesel locomotives were in an operational mode, the exact numbers subject to conflicting information.
The EFE was transformed in a public corporation: Ferrocarriles del Ecuador Empresa Publica (FEEP).
[16][17] Following this a short section (3.5 km) of the former Sibambe to Cuenca line, that between El Tambo and Coyoctor / Baños del Inca was inaugurated on 24 April 2009.
The section between Alausí and Sibambe which includes the switchback at the Devil's Nose was inaugurated on 16 February and that between Ibarra and Salinas on 13 December.
[24] A number of leisure orientated services operated, including from Quito to Latacunga via Cotopaxi National Park, between Alausi and Sibambe (Devil's Nose / Nariz del Diablo), between El Tambo and Baños del Inca, between Duran and Yaguachi and between Ibarra and Salinas.
Source: Volta o Trem 24-2 via Friends of Latin American Railways [1] Subsequent to this the company entered liquidation.
[3] Today Minister @MarceloHCabrera signed the transfer of the National Railway Infrastructure to @ObrasPublicasEc with which this patrimonial asset passes into the hands of the Ecuadorian State and marks a new stage.
@MarceloHCabrera highlighted that this system will contribute to tourism, passenger transport and sustainable mobility since there is the possibility of implementing electric trains.
After this signing, the legal and administrative processes will be carried out so that the railway system is concessioned through a Public-Private Alliance, which will allow repowering and rehabilitating the Ecuadorian train.
