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Ferrocarril de Arica–La Paz (FCALP)
Ferrocarril de Arica–La Paz (FCALP) (English: The Arica–La Paz railway) is a railway built by the Chilean government under the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1904 between Chile and Bolivia. It was inaugurated in 1913 and is the shortest line from the Pacific Coast to Bolivia. It is 440 km long, of which 233 km is in Bolivian territory. The Railway is meter gauged. Until 1968, it was rack worked over a 43 km section, on the Chilean side, between Central and Puquios. The line reaches a height of 4257 meters above sea level at General Lagos. The Chile - Bolivia border is crossed between the stations of Visviri and Charaña. When the railway is in operation, it is used for the export of Bolivian minerals and some agricultural production as well as the import of merchandise into Bolivia. Construction was started by the Chilean Sindicato de Obras Públicas, then continued under direct Chilean government supervision and was completed by the British company Sir John Jackson (Chile) Ltd., which carried out the major part of the work. It has 7 tunnels. Apart from some 18 months in 2001 and 2002, when the line was cut by damage to bridges, the railway was in service until 2005 when the company operating it filed for bankruptcy. By the Railway's centenary, in 2013, the line was in operational order all the way up to the frontier with Bolivia; the Bolivian section had remained in a serviceable condition, being used by a local rail-bus service. In 2013 it was not clear when the Arica–La Paz railway might reopen to regular train services. The passenger service closed in 1996 due to a lack of demand and trucks rather than trains carry most of the cargo traffic along paved highways. Political relations between Chile and Bolivia are poor. A proposal to reopen the railway was made in 2017, and passenger service offered on a short stretch of 38 km. In May 2021 freight traffic operated again from the Chilean coast until the terminal near La Paz in Bolivia.
June 17th, 2025
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