News Honduras

26.04.2022

The End?

After a corona-related interruption of the train journeys in San Pedro Sula, it was apparently planned to run a train for Christmas 2021. But the project failed because the locomotive was not operational. It was also brought to light that the entire state railway FNH had only 19 employees at the end of 2021, 11 of them in administration.
The tourist line La Unión – Cuero y Salado in the North of the country also no longer seems to carry passengers, but the track is still used to transport coconuts. However, the small carts are pushed by hand.
(Source: Volta o Trem 26-1)

02.04.2019

Puerto Cortés – San Pedro Sula – La Unión

The Honduran government, in close cooperation with the Central American Bank for Development, is currently studying the construction of a railway line linking the port of Puerto Cortés via San Pedro Sula with the port of La Unión in El Salvador. Overall cost is expected to be around US$ 1bn; and the line will be reserved to freight trains only. The line will at a later stage connect with the planned Feristsa railway from Tapachula (Mexico) to Ciudad de Panamá (Panamá). It has been recognised that road transport is ruining the country due to the high costs and the lack of safety. The Honduran confederation of private companies welcomes the project, and the reactions from El Salvador have been positive as well. Financing is expected to be secured at the end of 2019 with planning and design work starting thereafter. According to government sources, construction work is due to start before 2023.
(Source: La Prensa)

31.03.2016

Infrastructure

The inter-american bank for development BID has pledged its support to a project from Honduras to build a 600 km-long railway across the country, linking the Atlantic with the Pacific coast. The price tag is US$ 10 billion and includes construction of two ports, one at each coast. The railway will also establish access to a number of regions in Honduras which are economically underdeveloped. Honduras hopes to successfully compete with other, similar projects in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
Turkish companies appear to be very keen in participating in this project.
(Source: La Prensa)

25.03.2015

Liquidation of National Railways FNH

Liquidation of National Railways FNH has started. To pay pensions some buildings have been sold and most rolling-stock stored at Puerto Cortéz was sold as scrap.
(Source: Volta o Trem 19-3)

20.12.2014

Progreso

For a later reconstruction of the railway line through the city of Progreso in the North of the country, state railways FNH and city authorities freed all plots from illegal occupation and constructions.
(Source: Volta o Trem 18-9)

20.10.2013

Railway Museum

The railway museum at El Progreso is nearly complete. The city got a credit over 8mio. Lempiras from the World Bank to build it.
(Source: Volta o Trem 17-6)

Financial Problems

State Railways FNH are selling more and more rails, bridges etc. to easen financial problems. At Búfalo, Choloma and Villanueva such material was extracted officially, but this caused that steadily more illegals are doing the same without permission. The state pays less than 20% of the funds needed by the railway alone to pay pensions.
(Source: Volta o Trem 17-6)

23.09.2013

San Pedro Sula

The days of the San Pedro Sula local train seem to be counted. The condition of the vehicles is reported as being extremely poor, and this applies also to the track between the railway station and the urban bus terminal. The railway is struggling to even pay for diesel fuel. Timetables were reduced to 3 runs per weekday. As a result, each train is used by an average of just 10 passengers. Media reports from Honduras suggest that it is merely a matter of days or weeks until traffic ceases.
(Source: La Nación)

Freight traffic

The government of state president Pepe Lobo is optimistic about shortly closing a deal with China about building of a railway link between Isla de Amapala on the Pacific Ocean (near Jícaro Galán) and Puerto Castilla on the Atlantic Ocean. The project has the support of several Chinese firms, and it is planned that ships with a loading capacity of 300'000 tonnes could transfer their load directly onto trains. Containers would be sorted per destinations at the arrival port so that they can be loaded altogether onto one ship to the respective destination at the departure port.
(Source: La Nación)

Infrastructure

Interest in the Central American countries for the Feristsa project has grown after freight traffic resumed between Ixtepec and Tapachula. Guatemala announced that it would promote the project of a rail link between Mexico and Panamá along with the Spanish state railway Renfe. A number of private Spanish firms also expressed their interest in the matter.
(Source: dif. Mexican Newspapers; La Nación (Honduras))