Instituto Autónomo de Ferrocarriles del Estado

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Planned mainly unbuilt sections of the IAFE network before 1999

IAFE, Instituto Autónomo de Ferrocariles del Estado (Independent State Railways Institution) is a state-run organization of Venezuela that manages the railway systems of the country. Its headquarters are located in Caracas, Distrito Capital, Venezuela.

According to the 1999 Constitution its renovation is a national priority, with new infrastructure being added, including the first new above-ground train line constructed in Venezuela for more than 70 years, the Ezequiel Zamora Mass Transportation System inaugurated on October 15, 2006 by President Hugo Chávez.

1 Railway Network
2 Operational
- 2.1 Fully Updated
  - 2.1.1 Caracas - Cúa Branch
- 2.2 Modernization/Reconstruction
3 Services
- 3.1 Freight
- 3.2 Passenger
4 Construction
- 4.1 Work in Progress
- 4.2 Planning/design stage
5 Similar Organizations
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Railway Network

The Venezuelan network includes 682 km of rail in standard gauge ^[1]. The network covers the populated and production areas in the country, and is managed by IAFE under various Regional Development Plans. There are also connections between Colombia and Brazil that link to the other countries of South America, although traffic in the border areas are affected by foreign policy and defence strategy.

IAFE is the sole operator of trains in Venezuela, however, they have created various railway names assigned to different regions throughout the country.

Historically, much of the original Venezuelan network was designed in the 19th century in the Federalist period and under the administration of Antonio Guzmán Blanco, in order to open up the country for trade and earn foreign revenues. However, the first licenses were signed and revoked nine times before the first stretch was operating^[2]. The first lines connected Caracas to its port of La Guaira and then Valencia in the 1870s-80s. Notable engineers associated with its original development include: John Grover and Robert Fairlie. Some of the later lines were designed by William A. Welch and Thomas Kavanagh (Caracas subway).

Rail transport in Venezuela was neglected and went into a major decline from the 1950s, with bus and road transport taking its place, just Caracas maintaining its 51 km of subway system and local railway.

The 1999 Constitution was a signal for a major reinvestment in the infrastructure of the state. Much of the renovation of the current Venezuelan railway network is still at the planning stage, with some already constructed and the rest to be built over a period of about 30 years.

Railway	Branch	Present Status	Station	Location
Ezequiel Zamora	Caracas-Cúa	passenger service on new electricifed lines since October 15, 2006^[3]	Libertador Simón Bolívar	Caracas beside the Caracas Metro La Rinconada station.	Federal District
			Generalísimo Francisco de Miranda	North Charallave	Miranda State
			Don Simón Rodríguez	Charallave Sur	Miranda State
			General Ezequiel Zamora	Cúa	Miranda State
	Puerto Cabello-La Encrucijada	under construction and projected completion by late 2011	Puerto Cabello	Puerto Cabello	Carabobo State
			Naguanagua	Northern Valencia suburb	Carabobo State
			San Diego	North-eastern Valencia suburb	Carabobo State
			Guacara	Eastern Valencia suburb	Carabobo State
			San Joaquín	San Joaquín	Carabobo State
			Mariara	Mariara	Carabobo State
			Maracay	Maracay	Aragua State
			La Encrucijada	between Cagua and Turmero	Aragua State
	La Encrucijada-Cúa	planning stage	La Victoria	La Victoria	Aragua State
	La Encrucijada-Cúa	planning stage	Las Tejerías	Las Tejerías	Aragua State
	La Encrucijada-San Juan de Los Morros	planning stage	Villa de Cura	Villa de Cura	Aragua State
	La Encrucijada-San Juan de Los Morros	planning stage	San Juan de Los Morros	San Juan de Los Morros	Guárico State
Simón Bolívar	Puerto Cabello - Barquisimeto	currently operates freight trains, however, line and station renovation and modernization will allow passenger travel by the end of 2010	Puerto Cabello	Puerto Cabello	Carabobo State
			Morón	Western Puerto Cabello Suburb	Carabobo State
			San Felipe	San Felipe	Yaracuy State
			Urama	Urama	Yaracuy State
			Chivacoa	Chivacoa	Yaracuy State
			Yaritagua	Yaritagua	Yaracuy State
			Barquisimeto	Barquisimeto	Lara State
	Yaritagua - Acarigua - Turén	currently under reconstruction and extension	Acarigua	Acarigua	Portuguesa State
	Yaritagua - Acarigua - Turén	currently under reconstruction and extension	Turén	Turén	Portuguesa State
Norte Occidental (North Western)	Morón-Riecito	only freight services	Morón	Morón	Carabobo State
			Tucacas	Tucacas	Falcón State
			Yaracal	Yaracal	Falcón State
			Riecito	Riecito	Falcón State
	Yaracal-Punto Fijo	planning stage	Coro	Coro	Falcón State
	Yaracal-Punto Fijo	planning stage	Punto Fijo	Punto Fijo	Falcón State
Norte Llanero (Northern Plains)	Maturín - Anaco	planning stage	Maturín	Maturín	Monagas State
	Maturín - Anaco	planning stage	Anaco	Anaco	Anzoátegui State
	Anaco - Tinaco	under construction, expected completion by year-end 2012	Zaraza	Zaraza	Guárico State
			Valle de la Pascua	Valle de la Pascua	Guárico State
			El Sombrero	El Sombrero	Guárico State
			Dos Caminos	Dos Caminos	Guárico State
			Tinaco	Tinaco	Cojedes State
	Tinaco - Barinas	planning stage	San Carlos	San Carlos	Cojedes State
			Acarigua	Acarigua	Portuguesa State
			Guanare	Guanare	Portuguesa State
			Sabaneta	Sabaneta	Barinas State
			Barinas	Barinas	Barinas State
	Barinas - San Cristobál	planning stage	Barinitas	Barinitas	Barinas State
			San Rafael del Piñal	San Rafael del Piñal	Táchira State
			San Cristóbal	San Cristóbal State	Táchira
Centro Sur (South Central)	San Juan de Los Morros - San Fernando de Apure	reconstruction and extension to be completed by year-end 2011 for freight and passenger use	San Juan de Los Morros	San Juan de Los Morros	Guárico State
			Ortíz	Ortíz	Guárico State
			Dos Caminos	Dos Caminos	Guárico State
			Calabozo	Calabozo	Guárico State
			Corozopando	Corozopando	Guárico State
			Camaguán	Camaguán	Guárico State
			San Fernando de Apure	San Fernando de Apure	Apure State
	Chaguaramas - Caicara del Orinoco	reconstruction and extension to be completed by year-end 2011 for freight and passenger use	Chaguaramas	Chaguaramas	Guárico State
			Las Mercedes	Las Mercedes	Guárico State
			Santa Rita	Santa Rita	Guárico State
			Cabruta	Cabruta	Guárico State
			Caicara del Orinoco	Caicara del Orinoco	Bolívar State
Oriental (Eastern)	Guanta-Naricual	abandoned line, under study for upgrade	Guanta	Guanta	Anzoátegui State
	Guanta-Naricual	abandoned line, under study for upgrade	Naricual	Naricual
	Ciudad Guayana - Manicaure	under construction	Puerto Ordaz	Ciudad Guayana Este	Bolívar State
			Maturín	Maturín	Monagas State
			Manicaure	Manicaure	Sucre State
	Anaco - Cúa	planning stage	Anaco	Anaco	Anzoátegui State
			Barcelona	Barcelona	Anzoátegui State
			El José	El José	Anzoátegui State
			Puerto Píritu	Puerto Píritu	Anzoátegui State
			Higuerote	Higuerote	Miranda State
			Cúa	Cúa	Miranda State
Occidental (Western)	Maracaibo - Sabana de Mendoza	under construction	Maracaibo	beside a Maracaibo Metro station	Zulia State
			El Tablazo	El Tablazo	Zulia State
			Santa Rita	Santa Rita	Zulia State
			Cabimas	Cabimas	Zulia State
			Ciudad Ojeda	Ciudad Ojeda	Zulia State
			Lagunillas	Lagunillas	Zulia State
			Bachaquero	Bachaquero	Zulia State
			Mene Grande	Mene Grande	Zulia State
			Sabana de Mendoza	Sabana de Mendoza	Trujillo State
	Sabana de Mendoza - Barquisimeto	planning stage	Carora	Carora	Lara State
	Sabana de Mendoza - Barquisimeto	planning stage	Barquisimeto	Barquisimeto	Lara State
	Encontrados - Machiques	planning stage	Encontrados	Encontrados	Zulia State
	Encontrados - Machiques	planning stage	Machiques	Machiques	Zulia State
	Machiques - Maracaibo - Puerto Las Américas	planning stage	Maracaibo	Maracaibo	Zulia State
	Machiques - Maracaibo - Puerto Las Américas	planning stage	Puerto Las Américas	Puerto Las Américas	Zulia State
Región Guayana (Guayana region)	San Fernando - Tucupita	planning stage	San Fernando de Apure	San Fernando de Apure	Apure State
			Cabruta	Cabruta	Gúarico State
			Caicara	Caicara	Bolívar State
			Ciudad Bolívar	Ciudad Bolívar	Bolívar State
			Ciudad Guayana	Puerto Ordaz	Bolívar State
			Tucupita	Tucupita	Delta Amacuro State
	Caicara - Puerto Ayacucho	planning stage	Puerto Ayacucho	Puerto Ayacucho	Amazonas State
Caracas – La Guaira	Caracas – La Guaira	planning stage	Caracas	La Rinconada	Distrito Federal
			Maiquetía	Maiquetía (near the airport)	Vargas State
			La Guaira	La Guaira by the seaport	Vargas State
Recreacional (recreational)	Parque Recreacional El Encanto	reconstruction for passenger service by end of 2008	Los Teques	Los Teques	Miranda State

In May 2007 a maglev train was proposed to link Caracas to La Guaira and Simón Bolívar International Airport. A route is being studied prior to obtaining funding.^[4]

[edit] Operational

[edit] Fully Updated

[edit] Caracas - Cúa Branch

After 70 years without major improvements to the Venezuelan railway system the first of an ambitious plan that proposes many new lines, in particular, the Caracas - Cúa one of many Tuy Valley cities a distance of 41 km (25 miles) was opened for public service on October 15, 2006.

The route is part of the Ezequiel Zamora railway axis starts from Caracas and ends in Cúa Miranda State. The main terminal is located next to the Caracas Metro (subway) line 3 La Rinconada Terminal Station.

This short North-South line can be passenger travelled in approximately, 30 minutes, the following are the names of the 4 stations and the estimated travel time from Caracas and then the additional time to the next station. Also there is a delay time before the train restarts the trip which can be adjusted by management policy.

Station	Location		Travel Time	Wait Time
Libertador Simón Bolívar	Caracas	Federal District
Generalísimo Francisco de Miranda	North Charallave	Miranda State	17 min	2 min
Don Simón Rodríguez	South Charallave	Miranda State	4 min	2 min
General Ezequiel Zamora	Cúa	Miranda State	10 min

[edit] Modernization/Reconstruction

[edit] Puerto Cabello - Yaritagua - Barquisimeto Branch

The main branch of the Simón Bolívar railway axis is a 177 km (106 miles) east-west line where a full upgrade/restoration is in progress with a projected completion set for then end of 2010. This line connects Carabobo State, Yaracuy State and Lara State. The stations are as follows:

Puerto Cabello, Carabobo State;
Morón, Carabobo State;
San Felipe, Yaracuy State;
Urama, Yaracuy State;
Chivacoa, Yaracuy State;
Yaritagua, Yaracuy State and;
Barquisimeto, Lara State.

[edit] Yaritagua - Acarigua Branch

Another branch of the Simón Bolívar railway axis is a 113 km (69 miles) north-south line connection between the Yaritagua, Yaracuy State, Acarigua, Portuguesa State where a full upgrade restoration is in progress.

[edit] San Juan de Los Morros - San Fernando de Apure Branch

A 252 km (150 miles) north-south line where a full upgrade/restoration is in progress with a projected completion set for then end of 2010. This line connects Guarico State and Apure State.

[edit] Services

The railway provides both freight and passenger service.

[edit] Freight

Between Puerto Cabello and Barquisimeto movement of loads over 3 million tons per month have been exceeded.

Branch	Period		Frequency
Puerto Cabello-Barquisimeto	Monday to Monday	6:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.	twice daily

[edit] Passenger

As of July 16, 2007 passenger service is provided only between the stations on the Caracas-Cúa Branch. The following table shows the train schedule:

Cúa Station, Commuter short distance Train

Branch	Period		Frequency
Caracas-Cúa	Monday-Friday	5:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.	every 20 minutes
		9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.	every 30 minutes
		5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.	every 20 minutes
	Saturday and holidays	7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.	every hour

There is no Sunday service and all times are subject to change depending on special events, system improvements and the decisions the managers may make.

[edit] Construction

[edit] Work in Progress

[edit] Puerto Cabello - La Encrucijada Branch

Another part of the Ezequiel Zamora railway axis has 108 km (65 miles) under construction is between the sea port city of Puerto Cabello Carabobo State and crossroads town of La Encrucijada Aragua State. 14 tunnels including the 7.8 km (4.9 miles) Bárbula Tunnel longest in South America and many bridges are required to connect between the various stations along this line. Construction has proceeded as planned with an opening date set for December 2011.

The new stations along the dominately east-west line under construction are found in

La Encrucijada, Aragua State;
Maracay, Aragua State;
Mariara, Carabobo State;
San Joaquín, Carabobo State;
*San Diego, Carabobo State;
*Naguanagua, Carabobo State;
Puerto Cabello, Carabobo State

(*)These 2 are suburban cities of Valencia. Also only between the Naguanagua Station and Terminal Puerto Cabello Station the route has dramatically changed to a north-south direction. Also the terminal in La Encrucijada will provide easy access to the users from Cagua, Aragua State.

[edit] Chaguaramas - Las Mercedes - Cabruta - Caicara del Orinoco Branch

Another branch north-south line 201 km (120 miles) found mainly in Guarico State that will cross the Orinoco River and enter the Bolívar State.

[edit] Maracaibo - Sabana de Mendoza Branch

This 233 km (140 miles) will start in the capital city of Maracaibo Zulia State nearby the Maracaibo Metro (subway) station. The line will cross the mouth of Lake Maracaibo in a combination tunnel/bridge under construction in an east-west direction and after the El Tablazo stop the line follows a north-north-west to south-south-east direction. The stations are as follows:

Maracaibo, Zulia State;
El Tablazo, Zulia State;
Santa Rita, Zulia State;
Cabimas, Zulia State;
Ciudad Ojeda, Zulia State;
Lagunillas, Zulia State;
Bachaquero, Zulia State;
Mene Grande, Zulia State;
Sabana de Mendoza, Trujillo State.

[edit] Puerto Ordaz - Maturín - Manicuare Branch

This 320 km (200 miles) route will start from Ciudad Guyana Bolívar State, the Puerto Ordaz section and cross the Orinoco River to go south-north to reach Maturín, Monagas State and continue till it reaches the Sucre State where the line will run east-west until it reaches the deep sea water port of Manicuare.

[edit] Acarigua - Turén Branch

The completion of an extension of the Simón Bolívar railway axis is a 45 km (30 miles) north-south line connection between Acarigua, and Turén.

[edit] Tinaco – Anaco Branch

The first phase 468 km (272 miles) is part of the North Llanero railway axis (northern plains) an east-west line that will provide service among the following cities:

Anaco, Anzoátegui State;
Zaraza, Guárico State;
Valle de la Pascua, Guárico State;
El Sombrero, Guárico State;
Dos Caminos, Guárico State;
Tinaco, Cojedes State,

and work to be completed by 2012.

[edit] Planning/design stage

[edit] La Encrucijada - Cúa Branch

The completion of the connection from La Encrucijada to the Tuy Valley will be made at a later date.

[edit] Sabana de Mendoza - Barquisimeto Branch

A follow-up future east-west phase will connect Sabana de Mendoza with Barquisimeto Lara State.

[edit] San Juan de Los Morros – La Encrucijada Branch

Future expansion includes a north-south connection between San Juan de Los Morros and La Encrucijada Station.

[edit] Anaco - Maturín Branch

A separate phase for the North Llanero railway axis to be constructed at a later date will connect in an east-west direction Maturín Monagas State with Anaco Anzoátegui State.

[edit] Tinaco – San Cristóbal Branch

The full 1100 km (660 miles) route, the North Llanero railway axis will be completed at a later date and will add services among the additional following cities:

San Carlos, Cojedes State;
Acarigua, Portuguesa State;
Guanare, Portuguesa State;
Sabaneta, Barinas State;
Barinas, Barinas State;
Barinitas, Barinas State;
San Rafael del Piñal, Táchira State;
San Cristóbal, Táchira State.

[edit] Caicara - Puerto Ayacucho Branch

This north-south branch will connect Bolívar state to Amazonas State although a possible alternative would be to join San Fernando de Apure to Puerto Ayacucho.

[edit] San Fernando de Apure - Ciudad Bolívar - Ciudad Guayana - Tucupita Branch

This east-west route will connect Apure State, Guarico State, Bolivar State, Anzoategui State, Monagas State and Delta Amacuro State. Also this line will have stops in Cabruta and Caicara.

[edit] Caracas – La Guaira Branch

This dominately north-south route 50 km (30 miles) joining Federal District to Vargas State will provide access to and from Caracas and its International/National Airports and one of its major Seaports.

Caracas (La Rinconada)
Maiquetía Airport
La Guaira Seaport

completion of this line is expected within 5 years after fund approval.

[edit] Similar Organizations

RENFE (Spanish)
SNCF (French)
SNCB (Belgian)
NS (Netherlands)
the former British Rail (United Kingdom)
Deutsche Bahn AG (German)
Japan Railway (Japanese)
Korail (South Korean)
Italian State Railways (Italian)
Norges Statsbaner (Norwegian)

[edit] See also

Transport in Venezuela

[edit] References

^ CIA World Factbook - railways
^ [frrodriguez.web.wesleyan.edu/docs/working_papers/Anarchy_State_and_Dystopia.pdf Rodríguez and Gomolin1: Anarchy, State, and Dystopia: Venezuelan Economic Institutions before the Advent of oil]
^ Balfour Beatty Rail: Caracas – Tuy Medio Electrification project
^ Work on a Venezuelan electromagnetic train could be started in two months (in Spanish) ABN 10 May 2007]

[edit] External links

IAFE Website (Spanish)

Urban Rail Systems in Venezuela
Caracas Metro \| Guarenas / Guatire Metro \| Los Teques Metro \| Maracaibo Metro \| Valencia Metro

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