NEW passenger coaches entered service in Cuba in July, operating on the Havana to Santiago de Cuba route.
The vehicles are the first of 240 carriages to be supplied by Chinese firm CRRC from its Tangshan plant.
Historically, Cuban Railways have used a wide variety of older rolling stock, including second-hand carriages from European operators.
The major order for new Chinese-built coaches comprises 70 air-conditioned First Class coaches (72 seats) and 130 Second Class coaches (72 seats), plus 20 baggage/generator cars and 20 buffet cars (56 seats).
All 240 carriages will be delivered by the end of 2021.
The first 12 coaches arrived in May and were officially handed over on the 20th in Havana.
These were then used as a test train, running from Havana to Holguín, Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Bayamo and Manzanillo in early June.
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Nigel Devereux
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