International Railroad Discussion > Venezuela: Rock train and passenger line

A train runs most days between a quarry near Yaracal in northwestern Venezuela to a fertilizer plant at Moron some 50 miles away. The train will typically be towing some 13 cars. The line is used exclusively be the fertilizer company. I'm not sure of the economics of maintaining a dedicated railroad for such a small amount of traffic given that there is a good road paralleling the tracks. Fuel savings by using rail instad of road cannot be a factor. You can buy some 350 gallons of gasoline, or an even greater quantity of diesel, for the price of a cup of coffee. The first photo shows the train being loaded near Yaracal.
 
The second (upper) photo taken near Maracay shows progress of the construction of the passenger rail line between Caracas and Valencia.  In the past year the roadbed has been installed above the steel girders. I don't know if rails are in place. Further west towards Valencia there is still much work to be done.  A few years ago the train from Caracas reached just beyond Charallave, some 35 kilometers from Caracas.
 
The second photo (lower) shows the construction of a bridge to carry an extension of the railroad over the Valencia to Puerto Cabello road. The roadbed emerges from a long tunnel on one side of the canyon and disappears into another long tunnel on the other side.
 
Please excuse the quality of the photos which were taken from a moving car.

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