Talca to Constitucion Branch Railway

The branch from Talca to Constitucion, opened in stages from 1892 and completed in 1915 on metre gauge, and is the only narrow-gauge line still carrying passengers in Chile, running about 88 kilometres down the Maule valley in small diesel railcars - the buscarriles - and taking around three hours. It is not a tourist train: it is the transport for the small settlements along the valley, several of which have no road, and it stops at halts and wherever someone flags it down. Its railbuses of the 1970s were joined in 2025 by three new two-car units, the first new trains in more than half a century, and the line, a national monument since 2007, has been kept running because the communities along it depend on it.

History

The North and South American Company began building the line in 1889; the first section, from Talca to Curtiduría, opened on 13 August 1892 and the next, to Pichamán, on 1 November 1894. From 1902 trains ran to a first Constitución station on a sandbank across the Maule, which passengers reached by crossing the river, until the present station opened when the line was finished on 19 December 1915, after almost 25 years of building. The line was declared a national monument on 25 May 2007, and in 2025 three new two-car diesel units arrived, the first new trains for the line in more than half a century (Wikipedia, Ramal Talca-Constitución).

What you'll find

• The last narrow-gauge passenger line - metre gauge, completed 1915.
• Small railcars down the valley - about three hours over 88 kilometres.
• Stops on request - settlements along the route, some with no road.
• New trains in 2025 - the first in more than fifty years.

When to go

Year round; check the current timetable, which has changed often. A full day.

Before you go

Services are infrequent and have been suspended for periods for track work and equipment problems - confirm before travelling. The railcars are basic and can be full. Timings are approximate. This is local transport with a view, not an excursion train.

Nearby

Constitucion and the coast are at the western end; Talca is inland.

Key facts