CU Railroad
19 Nov 2002

Cuba Struggles to Maintain Railway
Associated Press  - By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ

HAVANA (AP) - Cuba is struggling to restore its railway system, Latin America's oldest, amid an ongoing economic crunch and complaints about delays and the aging engines.

The railway was born 165 years ago this week, and it has long been central to the economy, hauling tobacco for its famous cigars in the east and sugar cane to feed its mills in the west.

Born on Nov. 19, 1837, Cuba's railway system initially connected Havana with the nearby community of Bejucal. Spain didn't get a railway until 11 years later, according to city historian Eusebio Leal.

Today, Cuba's 2,700 miles of tracks still move about 60 percent of all ground cargo across the island, as well as hundreds of thousands of passengers annually.

While there are new efforts to restore the old American-made steam engines to attract tourists, average citizens complain about low-quality service - especially chronic delays - of this cheap form of travel.

``It's a challenge,'' said Rolando Jiques, who has spent 41 of his 74 years working in Cuba's railway system.

Transportation Minister Alvaro Perez Morales said his staff has been working since last year to cut down on the delays.

``The complaints are justified,'' Perez said.

One program reimburses railway passengers the price of their tickets if their train arrives late. The government-subsidized cost of passage from Havana to Santiago in the island's extreme east is about $2.60.

Still, the major problem facing the railway is a lack of investment to repair and maintain its infrastructure.

Cuba recently purchased some engines and other hardware from Mexico and Germany, but the nation's railway system ``doesn't get all the money it needs,'' said Ricardo Aguiar, director of Railroads of Cuba.

Cuba is still recovering from an economic crisis brought on by the collapse of the former Soviet Union more than a decade ago and ``investments are made within our reach,'' Aguiar said.