Salta–Antofagasta railway

Salta–Antofagasta railway
A train near the passing loop of Pascua, 2019
Overview
Other name(s)	Huaytiquina
Native name	Ramal Salta–Antofagasta
Status	Active
Owner	Government of Argentina Government of Chile
Line number	C-13 and C-14 (FA)  Argentina ? (EFE)  Chile
Locale	Argentina, Chile
Termini	Salta (Argentina) Antofagasta (Chile)
Service
Type	Inter-city and Commuter
History
Opened	20 February 1948 (1948-02-20)
Technical
Line length	941[1] km (585 mi)
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Route map

The Salta–Antofagasta railway, also named Huaytiquina,^[2] is a non-electrified single track railway line that links Argentina and Chile passing through the Andes. It is a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge railway with a total length of 941 km (571 in Argentina^[3] and 330 in Chile), connecting the city of Salta (Argentina) to the one of Antofagasta (Chile), on the Pacific Ocean, passing through the Puna de Atacama and Atacama Desert.

Overview

The Argentine track (a brief portion -Salta-Cerrillos- of Ramal C-13, and mainly the Ramal C-14^[4] Cerrillos-Socompa) is part of the Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano and 217 km of it are served by a touristic train named "Tren a las Nubes".^[5] The Chilean track (Socompa-Antofagasta) is part of the Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia (FCAB).^[6] The "Huaytiquina", along with the Transandine (Mendoza-Los Andes to Santiago, closed since 1984 and pending reconstruction), represent the only railway links between the two countries.

With the highest point (La Polvorilla) at 4,220 metres (13,850 ft) amsl, the Huaytiquina is the fifth highest railway in the world and the third highest in South America.

History

The construction of the railway started in 1921, to connect the North of Argentina with Chile across the Andes, and to serve the borax mines of the area. The viaduct La Polvorilla, the highest of the line, was finished on 7 November 1932. The Chilean track was inaugurated in 1947 and the complete railway on 20 February 1948. The route was designed by American engineer Richard Maury,^[7] after whom one of the stations ("Ingeniero Maury") has been named.

The word "Huaytiquina" is the nickname of the railway. It refers to an ancient Andean mountain pass between Argentina and Chile, located just in north of Socompa and projected as line terminus. In 1923, after a Chilean request whose rail line arrived close to Socompa, the original project was abandoned and the Argentine route diverted to the current one.^[8]

In March 2022, the Government of Salta Province met with executives of Chilean company Ferronor with the purpose of bringing back a passenger service between Argentina and Chile. The project include the reactivation of a 700-km line that joins both countries through Socompa Pass, located 3,876 mt above sea level. There is a precedent of an agreement between both parties when Belgrano Cargas and Ferronor signed in 2000 to facilitate freight transport commerce.^[9]

Route

The line crosses the north-western side of Salta Province, serving the suburban towns around Salta of Cerrillos, Rosario de Lerma and Campo Quijano, following part of the course of the Lerma Valley. It counts two zig zags, at El Alisal and Chorrillos, and two spiral loops between Tacuara and Diego de Almagro. Entering the plateau of Meseta,^[10] the railway passes near Santa Rosa de Tastil and the Pre-Inca archaeological site of Tastil.

It serves the town of San Antonio de los Cobres, in the middle of the Puna de Atacama, nearby copper mines. After the viaduct La Polvorilla, highest point of the line (4,220 m), the railway runs on the borders of Jujuy Province at Olacapato and, between Tolar Grande and Caipe, it crosses in the middle a dry lake named Salar de Arizaro. The station of Socompa, named after the Andean vulcan, is a bi-national station located between the Argentinian-Chilean frontier line.^[11]

Entering the Chilean territory, the rest of the line crosses the municipal territory of Antofagasta, located in the homonymous province and region. Varillas and Augusta Victoria have a short industrial rail branches, the one of Varillas serving Escondida mine. At Palestina station, the line crosses the junction railway Baquedano-Aguas Blancas, named FF.CC. Longitudinal (owned by Ferronor), linking the lines Antofagasta-La Paz and Antofagasta-Copiapó. Descending the western slopes of the Andes and the Atacama Desert, the "Huayitquina" reaches the industrial complex and village of La Negra and, after 22 km, the Pacific Ocean in the port city of Antofagasta.

Train services

v t e Salta–Antofagasta Railway
Legend
Huaytiquina Railway
km Elevation in metres to Güemes (Jujuy/Tucumán) 0.0 Salta 1,187 Salta Km 1134 Salta Campo Caseros 9.3 Salta Alvarado 1,207 Río Ancho 17.2 Cerrillos 1,260 to Alemanía Cerrillos Km 1156 El Pucará 30.0 Rosario de Lerma 1,332 40.6 Campo Quijano 1,520 Virrey Toledo 1,587 53.2 El Alisal 1,806 El Alisal zig zag El Tunal 2,100 66.5 Chorrillos 2,111 Chorrillos zig zag Ingeniero Maury 2,358 91.7 Gobernador Solá 2,556 Puerta Tastil 2,675 109.4 Meseta 2,844 spiral spiral Tacuara 3,036 131.3 Diego de Almagro 3,503 Incahuasi 3,553 156.1 Cachiñal 3,739 Abra Muñano (Bomba) 175.0 Muñano 3,952 Los Patos 3,842 196.3 San Antonio de los Cobres 3,774 215.3 Mina Concordia 4,144 217.4 La Polvorilla 4,220 224.4 La Bomba 236.4 Tocomar Domingo F. Sarmiento 262.0 Olacapato 4,090 292.6 Laguna Seca Agua Blanca (Pastos Grandes) 311.3 Salar de Pocitos 3,600 347.3 Unquillal Salar del Diablo 373.4 Desvío Km 1506 403.4 Tolar Grande 3,508 436.6 Taca Taca 467.0 Vega de Arizaro 493.0 Caipe 511.8 Chuculaqui Alemán Muerto 549.9 Quebrada del Agua 571.0 Socompa 3,876 Argentina Chile Monturaqui 3,415 Negrillar Neurara 3,450 Punta Rieles Pan de Azucar Imilac 3,050 Varillas (Zaldívar) 3,100 Chimborazo (Aldo Poblete) Augusta Victoria 1,740 Cerro Negro FCAB ← to Baquedano (Arica / La Paz) to Aguas Blancas and Copiapó → Palestina 860 Llanos Lata Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia to Arica / La Paz O'Higgins 350 Portezuelo to Copiapó and Santiago 919.0 La Negra 420 Antofagasta Blanca 941.0 Antofagasta 119 to Mejillones

Due to a presence of mineral deposits in the Atacama area, most traffic on the line consists of freight trains transporting minerals such as lithium carbonate, borax, butane, pearlite, salt, ulexite, and brine.^[12] The most famous service is the sightseeing Tren a las Nubes (train to the clouds), running between Salta and La Polvorilla. Nowadays, apart from some suburban trains running from Salta to Campo Quijano, the Tren a las Nubes is the only passenger train serving the line, after the cancellation of the Tren Mixto Salta-Socompa,^[13] that once linked Socompa with Tucumán and Buenos Aires (Retiro Station), via Córdoba and Rosario.^[14] The Chilean part of the line, also served only by freight trains, was the site of a proposed commuter rail line on the route running through Antofagasta.^[15]

Gallery

• 
  Train at Augusta Victoria station
• 
  El Toro viaduct, between Campo Quijano and El Alisal
• 
  The Tren a las Nubes crossing a bridge
• 
  A cargo train at Ingeniero Maury station
• 
  La Polvorilla viaduct
• 
  Domingo F. Sarmiento station
• 
  Laguna Seca station
• 
  Antofagasta station building

See also

• List of highest railways in the world
• South Trans-Andean Railway (Argentina-Chile): proposed line linking Zapala to Lonquimay.^[16]
• Trans-Andean railways: rail services in the Andean and atlantic countries.
• Transandine Railway (Argentina-Chile): defunct line, pending reconstruction, linking Mendoza to Santiago.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ferrocarril Salta-Antofagasta.

• Historia del Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Salta on Amigos del Tren (archived, 7 Jan 2011)
• El Ramal C-14 y el Tren a las Nubes (archived, 4 Dec 2017)
• Ferrocarril Antofagasta–Bolivia on Markus' Classic Trains
• Tren a las Nubes official website

This page was last edited on 21 July 2023, at 15:05