The trains Nationals with origin in Havana delayed their departure schedules until September 30, in search of “optimizing the service and minimizing affectations to the population”.
According to He reported on Facebook The company in charge of these routes, the measure is motivated “fundamentally by the low availability of cars and the need for extra trains throughout the summer.”
These additional trains will circulate every four days depending on the “transfer of students and workers from various sectors, athletes who participate in sporting events, such as school games, among others,” the entity said.
The population may acquire “some available capabilities” in them “as is usually done in these months of high demand,” says the official publication.
Due to the use of cars for these extra trains “for the exit of the regular train from Havana, it is necessary to wait for the arrival of the train that comes from the eastern provinces to use some of their cars, so time is needed for technical maintenance, enabling, supply and cleaning” of them.
For others, “sometimes it is also necessary to use the same locomotive, which also requires provisioning, and in general to create conditions for the new exit,” adds the company, which recognizes that, “beyond the will” of its workers and other entities involved, “in practice the schedules have been running, with which also the waiting of the population in the terminals.”
The new schedules
Given the previously described difficulties, national routes considered it convenient to set new exit schedules for trains that leave from the Cuban capital to the east of the country.
In this way, the Havana-Santiago train behind its exit from 7:15 pm to 10:15 pm; Havana-Guantánamo, from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm; Havana-Holguín, from 7:05 pm to 10:05 pm; and Havana-Bayamo-Manzanillo, from 7:20 pm to 11:20 pm.
For their part, the return trains from the Eastern cities “will maintain their usual schedules,” said the company that thanked “the understanding” of its users “and reiterated their” commitment to provide a better service “to the population.
At the same time, he explained that “the confirmation of the tickets can be carried out with the staff of the traveler company at the station.”
In addition, he warned that “if some inconvenience or modification occur in the scheduled schedules for the new departures, they will be informed during the day.”
According to It was reported last Marchnational trains remained in 2024 with only 63 % of planned passenger cars available and with just 14 of the 20 necessary locomotives.
Cuban transport minister Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, then explained that the shortage of convertible currencies had prevented solving pending maintenance and technical problems.
Despite this, he said, 785 272 passengers were transported, 8.31 % more than expected, thanks to a “greater efficiency in the sale of additional tickets and stops in nine locations.” However, he acknowledged, the delays were frequent.
