PeruTren

It is the intention in this brief historical summary of the railroads in Peru to try to inform the reader of the main facts that affected the development and the construction of the railroads in the country. Basadre (1) refers to the history of the railroads, especially in the boom period of their construction during the second half of the 19th century and the first part of the 20th and the lamentable history of the period. He says, "Most of the railroads were not completed in the time limits stipulated and there were complex problems surrounding their financing, or of their administration or of their completion". It is no coincidence that the majority of the railroads included here no longer operate.

From the smallest to the largest, passing from the amazing Marañón, to the Ucayali and to the Madre de Dios, they have their history and their anecdotes. Since the first railway line was built here in 1851 the rail network extended to more than 4,500 kilometres, a considerable amount. The subject is extensive and this summary is not exhaustive but is intended to give an idea of what happened with our railroads during the time that has elapsed since they began to run.

Trains exercise a special attraction upon people; some musicians have even been inspired by them to compose. Such is the case of Gershwin and his “Rhapsody in Blue” or Honegger with his “Pacific 231”, a type of locomotive. This fascination combines nostalgia and interesting history and of course we play with our children with train sets! The history of the railroads in Peru is linked inextricably to the history of the country. The railroads marked an era and they contributed in their final form to consolidation in the good and bad times. In the war with Chile more than 500 km of lines were destroyed, out of a total of 1,500 that existed in 1877. That length was reached again in 1910.

The order in which the history is summarised is geographical, beginning in the north and continuing down to the south. The data has been obtained from several sources, which are cited at the end. In some cases we do not have exact data, so the information given is that which has been deduced or is the most logical. In time when more references are found they will be incorporated into the text.

There were Presidents that tried a great deal to provide Peru with a railway system to meet the needs of the progress that the country required. Castilla, the initiator, later Balta, the Pardo’s, Piérola and Leguía, figure among those that did most. It was in the period up to 1930 that railroads were built in Peru; since that date development has stopped and decline has begun.

Historical Survey

On 13 May 1826 John Begg an English businessman living in Lima and Francisco Quiroz a Cerro de Pasco mining man, presented the first request to the Peruvian Government for permission to build a railway from Callao to Lima. Among other requests presented in that time, there is one very unusual: a waterpower railroad. The proposed railway from Callao to Lima in Perú, said a newspaper article of 1845, will neither need the agency of steam nor the aid of fire. The ground has a gradual unbroken rise the whole way. Above Lima flows the river Rímac, which passes through a part of the city in its way to the sea near Callao. It is therefore proposed to propel the cars by means of belts attached to the trains, and passing over large drums at each end of the road, and these drums to be driven by one or more water wheels erected on the stream by the road side. It seems the idea didn’t work.

The first railway built in Peru was a short line from Callao to Lima 14 km, which was opened to traffic in 1851. The Arica to Tacna railway was constructed in 1856 and was followed the next year by a line from Lima to Chorrillos 14 km. The first real era of railway construction began in 1867 and continued until shortly before the outbreak of the war with Chile 12 years later. The outstanding in this pioneer period was the famous American engineer, Henry Meiggs, through whose vision and initiative were made the beginnings to the more important lines now still in existence.

Meiggs made proposals for the constructions of the Southern and Central systems in 1868 and both of these ambitious projects were pushed simultaneously during the next decade. In 1869 the Southern Railway was the first to be started and by 1876 the line was completed to Puno, a distance of 522 km. The Central Railway had penetrated as far inland as Chicla, 141 km, by that year. Other important lines undertaken during this period were those from Lima to Chancay and eventually Huacho 1870, Pacasmayo to Guadalupe and Yonán 1871, Ilo to Moquegua 1871, Eten to Ferreñafe 1873, Paita to Piura 1875, Salaverry to Trujillo and Ascope 1875, and Chimbote to Recuay 1876. The problems of the national finances caused by the heavy expenditure on these railways brought construction to a standstill in 1876 and the situation became hopeless by the outbreak with the war with Chile in 1879. The Chileans who had planned for a long time to take the rich territory of Tarapaca had now the opportunity of seizing it by the force. During this struggle several railways were destroyed, among them Ilo to Moquegua 101 km, Ancón to Huacho 66 km of which had been finish to the port of Chancay and 30 km of a line which had been started to the Cerro de Pasco mines. In 1878, 44 km of the Pacasmayo Railway were destroyed by a flood leaving the terminal at Yonan. 500 km of track were lost by Peru during the war from 1879 to 1883.

After the war further railway construction was out of the question, except for the completion of the line from Paita to Piura in 1884 and the construction of a short line narrow gauge from Piura to Catacaos. Finally in 1889 an agreement was made with the British bondholders of the Peruvian foreign debt known as the Grace Contract. An entity, the Peruvian Corporation was formed in London to take over the main Government railways in return for the cancellation of the debt owing to British creditors. This was the beginning of English control over the major portion of the railway network of Peru. Although the contract of January 11th 1890, has been describe many times, it is important to repeat here its most relevant points.

The following lines were turned over the to the Peruvian Corporation for a period of 66 years from the time the contract was signed:

- Mollendo-Arequipa-Puno 522 km
- Juliaca-Santa Rosa 131 km
- Pisco-Ica 73 km
- Callao-Chicla 141 km
- Lima-Ancon 37 km
- Chimbote-Suchiman 52 km
- Pacasmayo-Guadalupe-Yonan 92 km
- Salaverry-Trujillo-Ascope 77 km
- Paita-Piura 98 km

The corporation obliged itself to construct the following extensions: Chicla-La Oroya in three years, Santa Rosa-Sicuani in four years and 160 km of other lines not specified on the contract in six years.

The free use of the piers at Mollendo, Pisco, Ancon, Chimbote, Salavery, Pacsmayo and Paita was conceded to the corporation. The Government agreed to pay the latter an annual sibsidy of 80,000 pounds for 33 years and also granted it two million ton of guano from the islands along the coast. At the end of the 66 years all lines and the railways property were to be returned to the Government free of encumbrance. Many other mutual conditions were agreed upon. None of the contracting parties found it possible to live up to the terms of 1890, especially in respect to the payments of annuities by the Government and the construction of the stipulated additional mileage by the corporation.

In order to adjust the many differences, a supplementary contract was drawn up in 1907, which included the following modifications: The life of the concession was extended for 17 years or until 1973. Thirty annual subsidies of 80,000 pounds were agreed to by the Government. The corporation agreed to construct the following lines by September 1908: Oroya-Huancayo, Sicuani-Cusco, Yonan-Chilete. Mutual concessions regarding tariffs, taxation, exchanging rates and other were made.

After the construction of the Huancayo, Cusco and Chilete extensions included in the 1907 contract, the Peruvian Corporation ceased to build any additional mileage. Therefore construction was undertaken by the Government and other private companies. The Cerro de Pasco Mining Co. completed its line from Oroya to Cerro de Pasco and Goyllarisquizga in 1906/1907. The Government replaced the Ilo-Moquegua Railway in 1909, destroyed by the Chileans during the 1879 war and also built a short line from Tumbes to Puerto Pizarro in that same year. The Northwestern Railway of Peru was completed in 1911 from Ancon to Huacho with a branch to Sayan opened in 1912. In 1928 it was extended to Barranca 46km north of Huacho. In 1918 the 46km Lima-Lurin Railway was built mainly for strategic purposes. In 1928 a line from Cusco to Santa Ana was opened to the traffic.

From 1930 the Peruvian Railways system started to decrease in both length and importance. Most of the lines were abandoned and replaced by other means of transportation. During the second part of the 20th century only the Southern Peru Copper Co. Railway was built with 240km for the company’s needs. A short line between Santa Ana and Quillabamba in Cusco was inaugurated in 1978.

In 1972 all public lines were nationalized and a Stated owned company was created, Empresa Nacional de Ferrocariles del Peru or Enafer. By that time The Peruvian Corporation had only two lines under operation the Central and the Southern Railways. In the late 90’s they were leased under a new Governmental policy. The Cusco-Machu Picchu line was included in this operation. Only the Tacna-Arica and the Huancayo-Huancavelica lines remain under Government control.

An Unfulfilled Dream

In January, 1923, a concession was granted to Robert W. Dunsmuir, a Canadian citizen, for the completion of all line under construction by the time in charge of the Government as well as the building of a number of new lines which had been long planned. The railways included in this ambitious project were as follows:

1. Completion of the Huancayo-Ayacucho Railway, with a branch to Huancavelica. Later this train became the Huancayo-Huancavelica line, still under operation.

2. Extension of the Chimbote Railway to Huaraz and Recuay, and continuing to Tambo del Sol, a station on the Cerro de Pasco Railway.

3. Completion of the Pachitea Railway from Tambo del Sol to Pucallpa, on the Ucayali River.

4. Construction of a line from Ayacucho to Cusco via Abancay.

5. Contruction of the line from Pisco to Huancavelica.

6. Contruction of a line from Lima to Pisco utilizing the Lima-Lurin Railway.

7. Construction of a line from Chimbote to Lambayeque.

8. Completion of the line from Chuquicara, a station of the Chimbote-Huallanca Railway, to Cajamarca and Jaen.

9. Construction of a line from a point of the Southern Railway of Peru, Tirapata, to a navigable river on the Madre de Dios region.

10. Extension of the Pacasmayo-Chilete line to Cajamarca in case the arrangement could be made with the Peruvian Corporation.

11. The construction of a mega railway from Yurimaguas, a port on the Marañon River to Moyobamba, and from that place to a point on the coast between Paita and Pacasmayo, a total of 1,000km

It is needless to say that none of these lines was ever built, except the branch from Huancayo to Huancavelica which became the only train not planned that was completed.

Elio H. Galessio.