From CNN:
Trains in Ecuador have been virtually moribund since the late 1990s.
“Strong winter rains of El Niño in 1982 destroyed a stretch of the railroad between Huigra and Bucay,” says Slav Ivanov of Ferrocariles del Ecuador, the train’s operators. “Further damage occurred during El Niño floods during the 1990s.”
By 2008, only about 10% of the Ecuadorian train network was operational.
Since then, the Ecuadorean government has spent some $280 million revamping the national railway.
Tren Crucero’s four luxury carriages were manufactured in Madrid and hold 54 passengers in total.The flagship of the railway’s renaissance is Tren Crucero, a revamped luxury steam train operating a new cross-Andean service between Guayaquil and the capital of Quito (at 2,849 meters the highest capital city in the world).
Tren Crucero — literally “cruise train” — follows a 453-kilometer (282 mile) narrow-gauge line originally constructed between 1897 and 1908 along Ecuador’s Andean spine.
I served in the Peace Corps in Ecuador from 1963-65 and I took this train from Guayaquil to Quito several times. Memories memories
Is there an office for the peace corps in Ecuador at this time?
There is an office for Peace Corps in Ecuador. I think it’s moved fairly far north but don’t have a specific address but could get it if you need it.
How wonderful to see the train running again! It was a great service for us in the PC group # 1 from 1962-64! Earle and took it to Quito from Manta for PCV meetings and health checks. We also took it when we went back to visit in 1977 with our adopted kids, then in their teens, and went to Manta for them to meet their biological Ecuadorian families. Can hardly wait to come back again to try out the newer train service. It traverses some of the most beautiful country in all of Latin America.