Hershey Electric Railway
| Hershey Electric Railway | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Status | Operational |
| Owner | Ferrocarriles de Cuba |
| Locale | Havana and Matanzas Provinces, Cuba |
| Termini | |
| Service | |
| Type | Commuter rail |
| Operator(s) | Ferrocarriles de Cuba |
| Depot(s) | Hershey railway station |
| Rolling stock | Brill Interurban |
| History | |
| Opened | 1917 (Hershey railway station to Havana Casablanca railway station 1918 (Hershey railway station to Matanzas Versalles railway station) |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) |
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The Hershey Electric Railway, also known as the Hershey Railway, is a standard-gauge electric railway that runs from the suburbs of Havana, Cuba, to the city of Matanzas, approximately 92 kilometres (57 mi) to the east.[1] There are a number of intermediate halts and a station and depot at the town of Camilo Cienfuegos, better known by its pre-revolutionary name of Hershey. The railway is the only surviving electric line in Cuba.[2] The railway was built by The Hershey Company to transport sugar to the port of Havana. The original electric interurban cars were bought from the J. G. Brill Company, but these were replaced by cars from the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya in the 1990s.[3][4]
Overview
There are usually four trains per day from Havana Casablanca to Matanzas, but the service is irregular and journeys may be truncated without prior notice.[2] The main stops are at Guanabo, Hershey, San Mateo, Jibaco and Matanzas, but there are numerous intermediate halts serviced on demand. There are four branches from the main line in current use, running to Playas del Este, Jaruco, Bainoa and Santa Cruz del Norte. These are rarely used since 2000, but in the summer months, diesel hauled excursion trains run from Havana's La Coubre station to Playas del Este, a popular destination for city dwellers. Other branches exists but have not been used in recent years. When the Hershey line was constructed, the main railway operator in Havana province, United Railways, refused to allow the Hershey train access to its tracks so a new terminus was built at Casablanca, which is across the harbour from Habana Vieja, connected by a ferry service.[5]
See also
References
- ^ Enoch, Marcus (January 2004). "The effect of economic restrictions on transport practices in Cuba". Transport Policy. 11 (1): 67–76. doi:10.1016/S0967-070X(03)00054-4.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Ewing, Ed (21 February 2008). "Slow train across Cuba". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
- ^ Delgado Valdés, Elio (11 November 2012). "Cuba's only Electric Train, the Hershey". Havana Times. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
- ^ Staff (June 1998). "World Update". Railway Age. 199 (6): 24. ISSN 0033-8826.
- ^ Maller, Yury. "Hershey Electric Interurban Network". World Tram & Trolleybus Systems. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
External links
Media related to Hershey Electric Railway at Wikimedia Commons
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