predecessor ferrocarril del sur enafer track gauge 1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in eastern 3 ft 914 mm western website www.perurail.com perurail is a railway operator working tourist freight and charter services in southern peru . it was founded in 1999 by lorenzo sousa and british company sea containers . the main line between the port of matarani arequipa the capital of this region is peru s second largest city cusco and puno on lake titicaca was formerly known as the ferrocarril del sur peru southern railway and was for a time owned and operated by the enafer state company . it is the third highest railway in the world after the qinghai tibet railway to tibet and the fcca line from lima to huancayo . from cusco perurail provides passenger services on the 3 ft 914 mm gauge ferrocarril santa ana to aguas calientes delivering tourists for machu picchu . it operates in a 50 50 joint venture between belmond and peruvian trains and railways owned by lorenzo sousa debarbieri and son renzo sousa . 1 lorenzo sousa debarbieri is the chairman of the board of directors of the company . contents 1 route description 1.1 passenger routes 2 trains 2.1 cuzco lake titicaca 3 freight 4 shipping 5 see also 6 notes 7 references 8 external links route description edit perurail s routes are divided into two sections ; there are no tracks through cusco . the line between cusco and machu picchu is a 3 ft 914 mm narrow gauge line while all other the lines are 4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 435 mm standard gauge . the cusco to machu picchu route ferrocarril santa ana boasts a series of five switchbacks called locally el zig zag which enable the train to climb up the steep incline out of cusco before it can begin its descent to the sacred valley of the incas and then continue down to machu picchu . however this section of the route is currently suspended and all trains to machu picchu leave from poroy just outside cusco instead . from poroy the narrow gauge line goes northwest to ollantaytambo where the branch from urubamba joins then on to machu picchu station in aguas calientes . tracks formerly continued into the jungle but they were destroyed by recent flooding . the cusco puno tracks formerly ferrocarril del sur start at matarani port go through arequipa and enter puno region where the line splits in two at juliaca . the eastern branch goes to puno ; the western branch runs into cusco . it is possible to reach aguas calientes the railhead for machu picchu by train ; hiking along the train tracks is prohibited . reaching agua calientes is also possible by taking a bus from cuzco to santa maria then a taxi to la hydroelectrica and finally walking for two hours to agua calientes . taking train from hydroelectrica to agua calientes is also possible . helicopter services have been suspended indefinitely . in addition to the train visitors can reach machu picchu via several inbound hiking trails including the classic trail four day trek from cusco but there is no hiking back the other way on the inca trail . passenger routes edit cusco to machu picchu railbus officials in aguas calientes . railcar of perurail clearing the track ahead of a regular passenger train from cusco to puno . as of july 2011 update there are five passenger routes poroy machu picchu poroy machu picchu hiram bingham ollantaytambo machu picchu urubamba machu picchu cusco puno most trains to machu picchu operate from ollantaytambo ; there are three times per day to from poroy and one to from urubamba . 2 the following passenger routes are no longer operated arequipa juliaca cusco arequipa via juliaca cusco machu picchu trains edit on the route from cusco to machu picchu perurail transports the vast majority of visitors and provides several different services . 3 the belmond hiram bingham pullman named after machu picchu s american discoverer hiram bingham is the most expensive service . it departs from poroy at 9 a.m. later than other departures . meals guides bus service and entrance to the ruins are included . perurail vistadome car interior other services include the vistadome provided by refurbished 1965 vintage german ferrostaal railcars with at seat refreshments and large side and overhead windows allowing views of the mountainous terrain and expedition trains which offer basic service in upholstered seats at a lower price . snacks are sold and space is provided for backpacks particularly for inca trail hikers . although not advertised perurail also offers local trains equipped with wooden seats and that are available only to peruvian nationals for a fraction of the price charged to tourists . first class service is also offered on the andean explorer train from cusco to puno in refurbished coaches that include dining cars and an open air observation bar car . from may 2017 a new luxury sleeper train belmond andean explorer will operate four new journeys including a two night three day journey between cusco puno and arequipa . the interiors of the first class cars on the cusco to lake titicaca trains were designed by james park & associates the same company who designed the elegant first class cabins for singapore airlines . the actual work however was done in cusco by cusquenian workers . after the refurbishment was completed a traditional andean ceremony pago a la tierra payment to mother earth was organised to bless the train . a local shaman presided over the ceremony which involved many traditional rites . in february 2016 21 carriages formerly used on the great south pacific express in australia were purchased . 4 cuzco lake titicaca edit perurail train from cuzco to lake titicaca stops at la raya pass at its highest point la raya pass 14 28 59 s 70 59 20 w 14.48306 s 70.98889 w 14.48306 ; 70.98889 la raya the altitude is 4 313 m 14 150 ft . the train makes a stop in la raya pass where there is an exquisite view over all the plains to the snowcapped mountains and a beautiful old chapel standing all alone in the middle of the andean plateau . freight edit perurail runs daily freight services between the port of matarani the city of arequipa and the andean cities of juliaca puno and cuzco . under perurail s administration the tonnage transported increased from 460 000 tons during 1999 573 000 tons in 2000 to 639 000 tons during 2001 . the main products transported by perurail are copper concentrates fuel wheat for peruvian and bolivian consumption coal cement soya flour from bolivia coffee beer and non alcoholic beverages . shipping edit the car float manco capac operates across lake titicaca between perurail s railhead at puno and the port of guaqui in bolivia . perurail also owns the former ferry ss ollanta which was launched on lake titicaca in 1931 . ollanta is now refurbished for tourist cruises and perurail has leased her out for charter work . see also edit railways portal iper la raya mountain range rail transport in peru transport in peru tourism in peru notes edit orient express hotels ltd oeh . reuters . retrieved 10 november 2012 . perurail timetables www.orient express.com . retrieved 9 november 2007 . great train mystery solved as luxury carriages ship out queensland times 25 february 2016 references edit whetham robert d. 2008 . railways of peru . volume 2 the central and southern lines . bristol trackside publications . isbn 978 1 900095 37 2 . daniel thomas june july 2002 . cuzco to machu picchu . latin tracks . 9 16 22 . tracks to the incas . narrow gauge world . 98 34 6 . october 2014 . external links edit main website in spanish and english perurail timetables ladatco tours peru rail map brief historical summary of the railroads in peru virtual interactive 360 tour of the perurail train andean explorer v t e rail transport in south america sovereign states argentina bolivia brazil chile colombia ecuador guyana paraguay peru suriname uruguay venezuela dependencies and other territories falkland islands french guiana south georgia and the south sandwich islands retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title perurail & oldid 725254565 categories mountain railwaysrailway companies of peru3 ft gauge railways in peruperuvian brandshidden categories articles that mention track gauge 1435 mmarticles that mention track gauge 914 mmarticles containing potentially dated statements from july 2011all articles containing potentially dated statementsuse dmy dates from november 2012 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutschespa ol polski edit links this page was last modified on 14 june 2016 at 14 32 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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