THE government of Ecuador is providing $US 685,000 to the municipality of San Pedro de Alausí, which will enable tourist services to resume on the 12.5km Alausí - Sibambe section of the Guayaquil - Quito line.
This section includes the dramatic switchback at the Devil’s Nose, part of the major civil engineering required to take the Guayaquil - Quito line through the Andes and climb by over 2.5km to reach Riobamba at an altitude of 2754m.
Ecuador’s vice-minister of transport services and public works, Camilo Ruíz, says that the funding to be provided under a special agreement signed with the municipality will be used to refurbish coaches, maintain the stations at Alausí and Sibambe, and secure railway property.
The funding was welcomed by the mayor of San Pedro de Alausí, Remijio Roldan, and it is hoped that resumption of tourist services will offer a major boost for both the local and national economy.
All services on the Guayaquil - Quito line ceased in 2020 when Ecuador Railways Public Company (Feep), the successor to Ecuadorian Railways (EFE), was put into liquidation by the government. Feep’s main business activity had been the operation of tourist trains, including the flagship Tren Crucero from Quito to Durán (Guayaquil).
