Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Trains
Trains in this region are virtually nonexistent. There are no inter-country trains here, just a few intra-country
lines. You'll find a few small lines in Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and Chile, but generally these are
scenic tourist trains. Most long-haul transportation in this region revolves around buses and airplanes.
Trains in Argentina are experiencing something of a revival, since the government intends to reestablish
long-distance passenger trains between all major cities.
There is already rail service between the country's three largest cities: Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and
Rosario.
The trip to Mar del Plata is fast (six hours), very popular with Argentinians, and half the price of taking
the bus if you ride the low-cost
Tren Diario
that runs daily. Pricing and schedule information for this route
can be found at southamericaliving.com/trains-from-buenos-aires-to-mar-del-plata-argentina.
Unfortunately, there is no central place online to look up national Argentina train times. This website (in
Spanish) can give you times for trains leaving out of Buenos Aires: ferrobaires.gba.gov.ar/index .html.
The most popular train service right now is the Train to the Clouds (
El Tren a las Nubes
, trenalas-
nubes.com.ar). This is a scenic tourist train that runs from Salta in northern Argentina and takes about a day
to go round-trip. It costs $185 USD. Operation is seasonal. Be sure to check if the train is running ahead of
time.
In Chile, passenger trains (efe.cl) only operate in a few places. The state railway runs a train from San-
tiago to Temuco once a day. There is also train service between Santiago and Chillán. It's fast and mostly
reliable. Trains connect Arica in Chile with Tacna in Peru and La Paz in Bolivia. However, trains are about
20 percent more expensive than buses, and with very limited departures. I generally would avoid train travel
in Chile in favor of the bus.
There are a few train services in Bolivia, operated by two train companies, eastern (ferroviariaorient-
al.com) and western (fca.com .bo). The western network is more tourist-oriented. There is also a working
branch line to Calama in Chile, but this only runs rarely, perhaps once a week. The main line in the west
runs from Oruro to Tupiza almost daily.
Molly McHugh of southamericaliving.com writes: “If at all possible, take the train out of Tupiza instead
of the bus. There is service to Uyuni, Oruro Atoche, and the border town Villazon, only slightly more ex-
pensive than taking a bus. All cars have comfortable seats, heating, TV showing movies, and a dining car to
boot. To get to La Paz you can ride to Oruro then take a three-hour bus. There is no first-class bus service
out of Tupiza and the roads are unpaved and bumpy; a guaranteed very unpleasant bus journey!”
In the east of Bolivia, the rail hub is Santa Cruz, and trains go east to the Brazilian border and south to
Argentina. There is a normal train, an express train, and an expensive and fast railcar that costs $20 USD
per person.
In Brazil, train service is very poor. There is currently no train service at all between Rio de Janeiro and
São Paulo. Service is mostly limited to the tourist-oriented steam train that offers transportation between
two important Brazilian tourist towns, São João del Rei and Tiradentes. There is also train service between
Vitória and Belo Horizonte. Fares for both lines begin at $20 USD. However, due to the Olympics and the
World Cup coming in 2016, Brazil is building their train system and even considering building a high-speed
rail line. Because of this, rail service might expand and change greatly in the future.
Trains in Peru (perurail.com/en) go from Cusco to the tourist towns of Machu Picchu and Puno. They
are tourist trains and not meant for local travel. Tickets begin at $100 USD.
Countries not listed here do not have train service.
At the time of this writing, long-distance train travel should be avoided in the region. There are few
tracks, limited departures, and poor rail conditions, making train travel much slower and far more expensive
