News Trinidad & Tobago

10.03.2013

Port-of-Spain

The urban railway of Port-of-Spain will not be built as swiftly as planned. Although some preparatory work (land acquisition, relocation of utilities etc.) has already been carried out with government funds, the project has been stopped until further notice. As a consequence of the international finance and debt crisis, the country currently does not have access to the needed loans. This caused the French contractors and providers of rolling stock and electrical equipment who were selected to carry out the works, to withdraw from the project. At this time the government hopes, in light of the already accomplished preparatory works, to find interested parties who would not only build the system but who would also achieve funding of the works.

Although very little remains of the former railway in Trinidad, yet every year there is an important and memorable moment in the life of the few railway enthusiasts of the country. Always on the 30th of August at 1712 hours, a minute of silence is observed in order to commemorate the last departure of a passenger train from Port-of-Spain to San Fernando in 1965.
(Source: The Trinidad Guardian)