FERROCARRIL TRANSANDINO – FETRANSA (the partially Orient Express owned company that leases and operates the railway infrastructure between Cuzco Ollantaytambo Machu Picchu) has issued a statement with the following information:
FETRANSA`s engineers have already inspected the 122 kilometers of railway track between Cuzco, Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu.
As the priority is to restore rail service into Machu Picchu, FETRANSA has decided to start works in three stages:
Hidroelerica – Machu Picchu: The work will last three weeks service should be restored by approximately February 20th.
Piscacucho – Machu Picchu: The work will last seven weeks – service should be restored by approximately March 20th.
Ollantaytambo – Piscacucho: The work will last eight weeks – service should be restored by approximately April 01st.
Hidroelerica is located 8 miles away from Machu Picchu in the opposite direction than Ollantaytambo or Cuzco. To get there passengers would need to be driven to Santa Teresa and onwards to Hidroelectrica, from where they will take a very short train ride to Machu Picchu. The whole trip Cuzco Santa Teresa Hidroelectrica Machu Picchu should last approximately 4 hours (which actually is quite similar to the amount of time it takes to get from Cuzco to Machu Picchu Pueblo under regular conditions). There is no direct route from the Urubamba Valley to Santa Teresa passengers will have to go via Cuzco.
Piscacucho is a couple of miles from Ollantaytambo towards Machu Picchu, and is the official starting point of the 4-day Inca Trail. This point is fully accessible by bus. Passengers will board and return to this point until the Ollantaytambo Piscacucho portion is restored
It is important to mention that all working plans are subject to weather conditions, although the fact that we are in rainy season has been taken into account to make the above-mentioned estimates.
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