Tramway of Cuenca

Ecuador's first modern streetcar began operating in Cuenca. It connects the old Control Sur with the Industrial Park in the north. At its maximum capacity it can carry an estimated 120,000 passengers each day.

 

During the trip, the urban train crosses the Historical Center of Cuenca, a World Heritage Site. This is its main attraction, since its panoramic windows allow passengers to observe, with total clarity, the architectural heritage of the city along 4 km. It is a first class tourist experience through Gran Colombia Street up and Mariscal Lamar Street down.

 

In order to combat environmental pollution, vehicle congestion, noise and its associated nuisances, several municipal administrations made the political and planning decision to begin, continue and conclude tramway construction.

 

The technical data of the work are: 27 stations, 20.4 km of round trip, track gauge of 143.5 cm, 22 to 25 km per hour of average speed. It takes 35 minutes to cover 10.7 km, from the first station in the south to the last station in the north. During peak hours, a tram passes every 6 minutes. A special roadway was built to protect the Historical Centre from vibrations and the energy is transmitted by a third underground rail.

 

Many reasons abound to justify the operation of a city train. The main ones highlight the use of advanced technologies, which make it an accessible, silent, fast, comfortable and environmentally friendly means of transport. Being a public company, it is also an alternative to transport in the hands of private monopolies.

 

In Ecuador during the first half of the 20th century, similar experiences of public transport were implemented in the cities of Quito and Guayaquil. But the development of more modern infrastructure and the massive use of buses ended up bankrupting them. They stopped working around 1950.