Private railways in Guatemaka were taken over by the state in 1968, which continued to operate the system (as Ferrocarriles de Guatemala) until 1996 when poor condition of track, locomotives and rolling stock following on decades of underinvestment forced eventual closure.
In 1997, the USA company Railroad Development Corporation was awarded a concession the rehabilitate the network. By 1999 they had reopened the line from Guatemala City to Puerto Barrios, which then carried freight and some tourist passenger traffic. However, the concession was withdrawn by the Guatemalan government in 2007 and operations ceased. A study was undertaken in 2012 concerning the possibility of reintroducing passenger services, but nothing further came of this.
One short length of railway remains operational; a line from Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, crosses the Guatemala River on a bridge to reach Tecún Umán. About 1.5km of this line is in Guatemala.
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Private railways in Guatemaka were taken over by the state in 1968, which continued to operate the system (as Ferrocarriles de Guatemala) until 1996 when poor condition of track, locomotives and rolling stock following on decades of underinvestment forced eventual closure.
In 1997, the USA company Railroad Development Corporation was awarded a concession the rehabilitate the network. By 1999 they had reopened the line from Guatemala City to Puerto Barrios, which then carried freight and some tourist passenger traffic. However, the concession was withdrawn by the Guatemalan government in 2007 and operations ceased. A study was undertaken in 2012 concerning the possibility of reintroducing passenger services, but nothing further came of this.
One short length of railway remains operational; a line from Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, crosses the Guatemala River on a bridge to reach Tecún Umán. About 1.5km of this line is in Guatemala.
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