TRINIDAD's RAILWAY

The first railway line was between Port-of-Spain and Arima, the center of the island’s expanding cocoa industry, a distance of 15.5 miles, was opened on August 30, 1876. 

The first known railway on the Trinidad island was a horsedrawn line called the Cipero Tramway, which was built in the 1840s by a Scottish planter named William Eccles to transport produce from his sugar plantation to the wharf at San Fernando, 30 miles south of Port of Spain.

In 1859 the Cipero Tramway, an agricultural line from the Cipero Wharf in San Fernando to Usine Sainte Madeleine sugar factory was completed. The tramway used mules as motive power. In 1861 the line was extended east to the town of Mission (later renamed Princes Town). In 1864 the first steam locomotive, “Forerunner”, was introduced.

The Trinidad Government Railway (TGR) was originally built in to connect Port of Spain to Arima.  The railway was extended to Couva in 1880, San Fernando in 1882, Cunapo (now Sangre Grande) in 1897, Tabaquite in 1898, Siparia in 1913 and Rio Claro in 1914. Siparia was the last destination on the train line and the site now serves as the panyard of the Siparia’s Deltones Steel Orchestra.

December 28th, 1968 is recorded as the last day of passenger train services in Trinidad. But railway historian and researcher Glen Beadon has discovered that a train did run one last time after that historic date. Beadon said that on Tuesday 7th January 1969 Engine No. 42, was seen steaming for one last outing.

The railway system was put out of commission to make way for motor vehicles, as they were seen at the time as the future of transportation, a poor judgement on those incharge at the time. The railway covered 173 km (107 mi). After the end of World War I, the appearance of the automobile led to changes that culminated with the phased closure of the railway.

On 11 April 2008 the Trinitrain consortium was chosen to plan and build two new Trinidad Rapid Railway passenger lines. This plan was cancelled in 2010, the government said Trinidad could not afford such a project as it was estimated to cost more than $10 billion.

The rapid railway trains could help Trinidad with its traffic problem, everyday drivers are stuck in traffic costing them 2 to 3 hours of their valuable time. High-speed trains can generally reach 300–350 km/h (190–220 mph). On mixed use HSR lines, passenger train services can attain peak speeds of 200–250 km/h (120–160 mph). These trains can hold as much as 400 passengers.

We may never see another functioning train system in Trinidad in our lifetime, some researchers estimate that in the years 2035 to 2040 Trinidad may be financially stable to start a rapid railway system.

SOME PHOTOS TAKEN FROM MR RONALD RAGHUNANAN FACEBOOK POST