O ocaso das ferrovias na Colômbia (1870-1855)

The historiography on railways unanimously agrees that Colombia was slow to introduce this mode of transport within its national territory. Indeed, when compared to other Latin American experiences, the Colombian case reveals a certain sluggishness in the development of rail transport. A common regional pattern can also be observed across Latin America: despite national specificities and different rhythms, railways underwent cycles of expansion, consolidation, decline, nationalization, and, except for Cuba, re-privatization. The longest development cycles correspond to systems that began construction earlier, expanded significantly in the early decades of the twentieth century, and continued to grow more modestly until 1950, as in the major railway networks of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. In later-developing systems, such as Colombia’s, the “golden age†of railways was shorter, though still linked to coffee production for export—a feature that makes this experience partially comparable to that of São Paulo, Brazil. The aim of this article is to examine, in light of the relevant historiography, the history of railway development in Colombia from 1870 to 1955, in order to clarify the reasons for its relative delay compared with other Latin American cases.