There are no railways in Haiti. There are no plans to build new railway lines or rebuild closed lines. there have never been any rail connections with the neighbouring Dominican Republic. Haiti is a poor and war-torned country and there is no hope for high-speed lines and railway projects in the nearest future. But there were railways and trams between 1876 and the 1970s.
Trams in Port-au-Prince
In 1876, a group of New York financiers founded the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de Port-au-Prince. They received a concession to build a tram line in Port-au-Prince. The tram line was opened on January 17, 1878. It connected Croix de Bossales and Champ de Mars. It is considered the first railway line in Haiti.
Trams were initially very popular, but lack of investment in vehicles and infrastructure and the introduction of buses led to the bankruptcy of the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de Port-au-Prince in 1885. Three years later, the trams in Port-au-Prince were suspended.
In 1896, the reconstruction and expansion of the tram lines in Port-au-Prince began. Tracks were extended to rural areas, and steam locomotives and steam locomotives were purchased.
On April 18, 1897, the Société des Tramways de Port-au-Prince began operating its first steam tram line. The second line was launched a week later.
Trams in Port-au-Prince operated until 1932. They lost the competition from cars and buses.
Railways in Haiti
At the turn of the 20th century, The Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de la Plaine du Cul-de-Sac opened two suburban lines from Port-au-Prince to Léogâne (36 km) and Port-au-Prince – Manneville (43 km).
In 1901, The Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de la Plaine du Cul-de-Sac purchased the Société des Tramways de Port-au-Prince and operated all rail and tram services in Haiti. The railway lines were built to 762 mm gauge.
In 1905, the Compagnie Nationale Railroad built a railway from Port-au-Prince to Saint-Marc (approximately 100 km). The line was built to 1067 mm, wider than the existing lines. In the 1930s the railway was extended to Verrettes. Total length of the line was 145 kilometers.
The suburban railways in Haiti and the Port-au-Prince – Saint Marc railway line probably were active until the 1950s, but I can’t to verify this data. According to Nations Encyclopedia, about 40 kilometers of lines survived until the end of the 20th century and were used to transport sugar cane.
According to the website internationalsteam.co.uk, there were two other railways in Haiti:
The Gonaïves – Ennery line, 33 kilometers long, built at the beginning of the 20th century. There were plans to extend the line by 5 kilometers to Hinche, but before the plans could be realized, the line was closed in the late 1920s or early 1930s.
The Cap-Haïtien – Bahon line (39 km) was built in 1898-1905. The first sections of the line were closed in stages after 1948. A small part of the line was active until the 1970s.
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