CHILE: National railway EFE has extended its Chillán – San Carlos regional passenger service north to Parral, using part of the electrified main line that connects Chillán with Santiago.
EFE launched the Chillán – San Carlos trains at the end of last year, and the four daily trains each way cover the extra 34 km to Parral in 43 min. The extension of the service to Parral forms part of the government’s Trenes para Chile programme. Among various objectives, the ‘Trains for Chile’ initiative aims to develop local services to connect regional centres with their hinterland, providing the railway infrastructure is available.
‘Many residents of Parral come to do their paperwork in San Carlos and Chillán and today they will have a fast, efficient, ecological mode of transportation’, explained Óscar Crisóstomo, Governor of Ñuble Region, on September 7.
Three more regional services are to be launched this year under the Trenes de Cercanía 30/30 programme announced by President Gabriel Boric on June 1.
On June 16, EFE launched a service over the 29·6 km Temuco – Pitrufquén route. The operator also confirmed that local trains would be introduced on the 114·7 km Curicó – Talca – Linares section of the Santiago – Chillán main line by the end of this year. No date has been set for the third project, which will see local services introduced on a 27·4 km route linking Llanquihue with Puerto Montt via Puerto Varas.
