by Arborwayfan
The earthquake shut down all pax service on the state railways for at least a few days. First back was the Valparaíso Metro, really more of a dense commuter operation on the second oldest railroad in Chile, which limped along for a while with very sparse service on the Valparaíso-Viña del Mar core of its route because most of the equipment was stuck at the shops on the outbound inland end, with a weakened bridge in between, in a day or two, soon normalized. Next back was Metrotrén from Santiago to Rancagua on the former FC Central by late March, soon extended to San Fernando and joined by Terra Sur intercity service from Santiago to Curicó by late April. Somewhere in there Biotren from Victoria to Temuco. Then Biotren service from Concepción to some inland points (commuter service in the worst-hit area) but not to Talcahuano where the tsunami had severely damaged the town. Sometime in there the Buscarril metre-guage railbus branch from Talca to Constitución (town wiped out by tsunami) began service on the inland half of the line (Talca to the midpoint) using the two railbuses that had not been caught in the tsunami. At present, everything is operating except Terra Sur from Talca to Chillan. There is something wrong with either the line or the catenary or the electrical supply south of Talca, in the worst-hit region, and the railroad (www.efe.cl) has been slowly bringing equipment north from Chillan to the northern half of the line where it can be used. They offered very cheap fares as introductory rates and as aid to people in affected areas.
Another interesting point is that the hundred-year-old railroad bridges all, or nearly all, survived, while many highway bridges, some right next to the RR bridges, collapsed or had to be demolished. I saw a couple cases of this myself from the bus along route five near the river Bio Bio. Planners and commentators sometimes mention this as an example of what happens when public works are concessioned and are only expected to last 25 or 50 years instead of more or less forever. Not sure what the answer is but it's interesting.
Another interesting point is that the hundred-year-old railroad bridges all, or nearly all, survived, while many highway bridges, some right next to the RR bridges, collapsed or had to be demolished. I saw a couple cases of this myself from the bus along route five near the river Bio Bio. Planners and commentators sometimes mention this as an example of what happens when public works are concessioned and are only expected to last 25 or 50 years instead of more or less forever. Not sure what the answer is but it's interesting.
