Rail transport in theDominican Republic is provided by one state-owned operator and several private ones, mainly forsugar mills. There have never been any rail connections with neighbouringHaiti.
Railroads in the Dominican Republic were planned as early as 1877 when the Dominican Government granted a concession for construction of anelectric tramway betweenSantiago toPuerto Plata never constructed.
The first line (Ferrocarril Samaná-Santiago, with1067 mm gauge), connectingSánchez toLa Vega with 79 kilometers (49.1 mi) long, started in 1881 and was opened on August 16, 1887. A branch of additional 13 kilometers (8.1 mi) long from La Gina toSan Francisco de Macorís was opened in 1893. With a later 46 kilometres (28.6 mi) extension from Cabilla toMoca this railroad was enlarged to a network of 139 kilometres (86.4 mi).[1]
The second line (Ferrocarril Central Dominicano, with760 mm gauge), connectingPuerto Plata toSantiago with 82 kilometers (51.0 mi) long, started its construction in 1891 and was opened byPresidentLilís on August 16, 1897. Later a 27 kilometers (16.8 mi) extension for theFerrocarril Central Dominicano (Dominican Central Railway) was started in 1906 betweenSantiago andMoca, being opened on October 24, 1909. This railway was fully owned and operated by the Dominican Government since 1908.[2]
A northward branch for theFerrocarril Samaná-Santiago (Samaná to Santiago Railway) connecting its main line from Cabuya toSalcedo was opened in 1909 and an extension between Salcedo and Moca was started in 1913, finally connecting the Samaná to Santiago Railway with the Dominican Central Railway inMoca on February 27, 1918.
There are plans for connecting Santo Domingo to Puerto Plata through Santiago de los Caballeros, but never materialized.
The Dominican Government bought in 1939 the Sánchez-La Vega main line and Cabuya-Moca branch of the Scottish-private ownedFerrocarril Samaná-Santiago and in 1944 took the remaining La Gina-San Francisco de Macorís branch.
Now in full possession of bothFerrocarril Samaná-Santiago andFerrocarril Central Dominicano railway networks, in 1946 the Dominican State unificated both northern railways to made the state-owned United Dominican Railways (Ferrocarriles Unidos Dominicanos) 248 kilometers (154 mi)-long system. This system lacked of operational autonomy to use its revenues for maintenance and as results, the Puerto Plata-Santiago-Moca railway line was closed in 1951 and dismantled between 1955 and 1957, and the remaining network of Moca-Salcedo-Cabilla, La Gina-San Francisco de Macorís, and La Vega-Cabilla-La Gina-Sanchez lines were closed on February 3, 1976.[3]
The network consists of several lines, for freight and passenger transport, using severalgauges. Due to the closure of some of them, during the 20th Century, the network has been partly reduced to a series of scattered branches, mainly concentrated around the cities ofSan Pedro de Macorís andLa Romana.
The list below shows an overview about the original network:
The firstrapid transit system opened in the state, inaugurated at the end of 2008, isa metro network serving the capitalSanto Domingo. It consists of two lines for a total length of 27.4 km (17.0 mi), with planned expansion.[4][5][6] Alight rail system has been planned forSantiago de los Caballeros, the second Dominican city.[7][8]
Media related toRail transport in the Dominican Republic at Wikimedia Commons
