Currently, there are no passenger trains in French Guiana, but railways in French Guiana operates within the Guiana Space Center and are used to transport space shuttles. There are two main standard gauge railway lines intended to carry a large rail platform straddling the pair of lines and hauled by a heavy duty road vehicle.
There is also a 900 mm narrow gauge line used for transport fuel from storage to the booster assembly building. There are no passenger trains on these routes.
In addition, the Dégrad Corrèze sawmill has a very short narrow-gauge railway line used for transporting wood between the plant’s buildings. The railways use hand propelled trolleys.
In the past, there were several short railways in the penal colonies and around the gold mines in St. Elie.
In 1883, the colonial administration planned to build a railway connecting Korou with Cayenne (42 kilometers), but the project was abandoned.
Another railway construction project was developed in 1899 – it envisaged the construction of a railway from Cayenne to the gold fields in Approuage (100 km) and the subsequent expansion of the line to the border with the Dutch Guiana (present-day Suriname) and Brazil (a total length of 300 km). Construction of the line was supposed to start in 1903, but this project was also never realized.
In 1906, military engineers recommended to the authorities construction of the railway from Cacao to the gold-bearing fields in Inini. The gold would later be transported by steamer to Cayenne. Due to the costs, the construction of the line was abandoned. Four years later, the project was revisited and corrections were made, but due to the outbreak of World War I, the plans were abandoned.
Railways in French Guiana – penal colonies
In the past, there were narrow gauge railways in the penal colonies:
– a 16-kilometer long railway line was built between 1890 and 1897 between St-Laurent and St-Jean, along the Maroni River.
– a 22-kilometer line connected St-Laurent with the sawmill in Charvein, with short branches along the way. The line was a typical forest railway. The trains were hauled by steam locomotives or pulled by buffaloes or convicts. Passenger trains with also ran on the route.
In 1938, the penal colony was closed. Few remnants of the railway have survived until today
– another well-known narrow-gauge railway connected the penal colony in Kourou with nearby pastures.
– a narrow railway operated on Devil’s Island, where was located notorious penal colony in 1852–1953. The railway was used to transport food for convicts from ships. Today, the island is a tourist attraction, with remains of the infrastructure preserved.
– 38 kilometers southeast of Cayenne, in the “Camp Crique Anguille” penal colony, convicts built a narrow-gauge railway connecting the camp with the Tonnégrande River. The penal camp was closed in 1945. Parts of the tracks have survived to this day.
Other railways in French Guiana
The website internationalsteam.co.uk also provides information about other railways that were once active in French Guiana.
The first one – located in Saint-Elie – was 3.5 kilometers long and was built in 1884-1886. The wagons were pulled by mules.
In the town of Saut-Maripa, near the border with Brazil, the tracks of a narrow-gauge railway used to transport boats have been preserved.
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