The Salta–Antofagasta railway, also named Huaytiquina,[2] is a non-electrified single track railway line that links Argentina and Chile passing through the Andes. It is a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge railway with a total length of 941 km (571 in Argentina[3] and 330 in Chile), connecting the city of Salta (Argentina) to the one of Antofagasta (Chile), on the Pacific Ocean, passing through the Puna de Atacama and Atacama Desert.
engineer Richard Maury (third from left) with railway workers in Salta
The construction of the railway started in 1921, to connect the North of Argentina with Chile across the Andes, and to serve the borax mines of the area. The viaduct La Polvorilla, the highest of the line, was finished on 7 November 1932. The Chilean track was inaugurated in 1947 and the complete railway on 20 February 1948. The route was designed by American engineer Richard Maury,[7] after whom one of the stations ("Ingeniero Maury") has been named.
The word "Huaytiquina" is the nickname of the railway. It refers to an ancient Andean mountain pass between Argentina and Chile, located just in north of Socompa and projected as line terminus. In 1923, after a Chilean request whose rail line arrived close to Socompa, the original project was abandoned and the Argentine route diverted to the current one.[8]
In March 2022, the Government of Salta Province met with executives of Chilean company Ferronor with the purpose of bringing back a passenger service between Argentina and Chile. The project include the reactivation of a 700-km line that joins both countries through Socompa Pass, located 3,876 mt above sea level. There is a precedent of an agreement between both parties when Belgrano Cargas and Ferronor signed in 2000 to facilitate freight transport commerce.[9]
Route
Map of the "Huaytiquina" within Argentina and Chile. The track marked with blue strips is served by the Tren a las Nubes. In the right, location of the line (blue) within South America.
Entering the Chilean territory, the rest of the line crosses the municipal territory of Antofagasta, located in the homonymous province and region. Varillas and Augusta Victoria have a short industrial rail branches, the one of Varillas serving Escondida mine. At Palestina station, the line crosses the junction railway Baquedano-Aguas Blancas, named FF.CC. Longitudinal (owned by Ferronor), linking the lines Antofagasta-La Paz and Antofagasta-Copiapó. Descending the western slopes of the Andes and the Atacama Desert, the "Huayitquina" reaches the industrial complex and village of La Negra and, after 22 km, the Pacific Ocean in the port city of Antofagasta.
Due to a presence of mineral deposits in the Atacama area, most traffic on the line consists of freight trains transporting minerals such as lithium carbonate, borax, butane, pearlite, salt, ulexite, and brine.[12] The most famous service is the sightseeing Tren a las Nubes (train to the clouds), running between Salta and La Polvorilla. Nowadays, apart from some suburban trains running from Salta to Campo Quijano, the Tren a las Nubes is the only passenger train serving the line, after the cancellation of the Tren Mixto Salta-Socompa,[13] that once linked Socompa with Tucumán and Buenos Aires (Retiro Station), via Córdoba and Rosario.[14] The Chilean part of the line, also served only by freight trains, was the site of a proposed commuter rail line on the route running through Antofagasta.[15]
Gallery
Train at Augusta Victoria station
El Toro viaduct, between Campo Quijano and El Alisal