Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 40, 2020

The Northern Railroad of Guatemala was a railway system that ran from Guatemala City to Puerto Barrios, the main port of Guatemala, between 1896 and 1968. The American United Fruit Company had the monopoly of the railway system thru its affiliate, International Railways of Central America, along with the docks at Puerto Barrios, the banana plantations in Izabal and the cargo and passenger transport with its Great White Fleet. The system was highly efficient, but once a parallel highway was built, it could not compete and eventually was handed back to the State of Guatemala in 1968. After that, the system slowly lost its relevance, as trucks were more profitable than railway transportation on this route. It ceased regular operations in 1996, and has remained partially abandoned since.