The Tren Solar de la Quebrada is Latin America’s first primarily solar-powered passenger train, carrying tens of thousands of travelers through the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Quebrada de Humahuaca with the power of the sun.
El Tren Solar de la Quebrada celebrated its second anniversary last month, after ferrying passengers and eco-tourists through the Argentinian province of Jujuy on a 42 km (~26 mile) restored historic railway branch line that crossed the Quebrada de Humahuaca (Humahuaca Canyon).
UNESCO recognized the high canyon in 2003 for its cultural significance as a trade and migration corridor that’s been in constant use for more than 10,000 years, linking the people of the Andean highlands with the lowlands since prehistoric times. Since its official launch last year, the solar train carried 90,000 passengers along that same route, connecting towns and boosting local economies without noise or emissions.
The train, itself
The train itself can ferry up to 388 passengers (72 seated) along the route, powered a 352 kWh li-ion battery pack that – along with regenerative braking on downhill sections of its runs – offers more than enough range to complete the ~52 mile round trip on a single charge. If the train ever does need to charge, each of the six stations currently on the route have EV-style chargers capable of “juicing it up,” with their power sourced from a dedicated 6 MW solar farm backed by stationary battery storage. In other words: there’s no combustion, anywhere.
As interesting as the train is, though, its impact is much more significant than environmentally-conscious commuting.
“One of the defining characteristics of the project is its social impact,” reads the train’s official site. “Of the more than 90,000 passengers transported in the last two years, around a third traveled as part of the Solar Train’s social responsibility program. In other words, 1 in 3 passengers accessed the experience through initiatives aimed at bringing the train closer to the community.”
Phase 1 of the Tren Solar de la Quebrada currently runs between Volcán and Tilcara, but the project’s long-term vision includes extending the route north to Humahuaca and eventually La Quiaca, near the Bolivian border. There’s no published timeline for that future expansion as yet, but we are here for it.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Tren Sólar, via El Cronista.
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