15:47 | Cusco (Cusco region), May. 1.
Trains began running once again on Wednesday from the southern Peruvian city of Cusco to the famed Inca citadel of Machu Picchu,
PeruRail, the operator of that service, said.
"PeruRail communicates to its users and the community in general that starting May 1 it will re-establish its train services from the stations of San Pedro and Poroy in Cusco," PeruRail said in a statement released on Tuesday.
The San Pedro station is located in the historic downtown of the Incas' imperial capital, next to the city's main market, and until just a few years ago was the main point of departure for trains heading to
Machu Picchu.
The Poroy station, for its part, is located in Poroy district, part of the Cusco department, at a spot around 20 minutes by car from downtown Cusco. It has traditionally been the point of departure for the majority of foreign tourists traveling to
Peru's top tourist destination.
PeruRail said that starting Wednesday the tourist trains
Expedition 33,
Vistadome 31, Vistadome 203 and
Belmond Hiram Bingham 11 will provide round-trip service at different times starting at 6.40 am.
Two trains providing local service for residents of the
town of Machu Picchu pueblo (formerly Aguas Calientes) are also set to resume operating.
Local cargo service will maintain its four departure times to and from Cusco on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Baggage service in Cusco also will resume, with one storage center operating on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays and two storage centers operating on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Local baggage service for area store owners also will be restored at the Izcuchaca station in the village of Cachimayo, near Poroy.
PeruRail added that these rail operations were restored after Ferrocarril Transandino S.A., which holds the railway concession in that region, announced that it was authorizing the passage of trains through the Pomatales ravine starting" on May 1.
Due to security measures put in place due to rains and flooding, trains to Machu Picchu in recent years have departed from the station in Ollantaytambo, a village in southern Peru's Sacred Valley that is located 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Cusco.
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Published: 5/1/2019