Santa Clara railway station (Cuba)

Santa Clara
*(Santa Clara Marta Abreu)*
Santa Clara ; (Santa Clara Marta Abreu)
Ferrocarriles de Cuba
	Station building
General information
Location	Parque de los Mártires, Av. Unión ; Santa Clara, Cuba
Coordinates	22°24′49″N 79°57′58″W / 22.41355°N 79.96598°W
Owned by	National Government
Line(s)	Havana-Santa Clara-Camagüey-Santiago ; Santa Clara-Cienfuegos ; Santa Clara-Isabela de Sagua ; Santa Clara-Camajuaní-Nuevitas ; Santa Clara to Placetas-Trinidad
Platforms	3 (at-grade)
Tracks	6
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Platform levels	1
Parking	yes
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	1860
Electrified	no

Santa Clara is the main

Ferrocarriles de Cuba (FFCC) and is located in front of Parque de los Mártires (Martyrs Park). It is one of the most important stations of Cuba and, along with Havana Central, Santiago and Camagüey, is a network's divisional headquarters.^[2]

History

Opened in 1860 as part of the Cienfuegos-Villa Clara railroad and named Paradero Villa Clara (Villa Clara station). The first building, a large wooden structure, burned to the ground in 1895, at that moment, it was rebuilt by Marta Abreu (benefactress of the city) and the city council decided to rename that building after her. This second building, a Colonial architecture structure of brick walls and red tiled roof, was again remodeled in 1925, for the one still standing, keeping the name of Marta Abreu. Due to that reason the station is also known as Estación Marta Abreu (Santa Clara Marta Abreu).^[3]

Structure

Santa Clara station has a large one-floor

tracks, one of which is terminal (the nr. 6), and the nr. 5 is not served by any platform. Just after the level crossing is located the main shed, and another one is 100 m in the north, on the line to Camajuaní and the University. Close to the main depot and just side the line to Camagüey, is located the Tren Blindado (armoured train) memorial of the Battle of Santa Clara

.

All the lines serving the station, included the main one (Havana-Camagüey-Santiago), are not electrified and have a

double track

, due to the usage of the second rail for the line to Cienfuegos.

Services

The station is served by several long-distance trains linking almost the whole island as the flagship Tren Francés (French Train) Havana-Camagüey-Santiago. Other long-distance trains, principally departing/ending at Havana Central, link Santa Clara to Holguín, Guantánamo,^[4] Bayamo, Manzanillo, Matanzas, Ciego de Ávila, Las Tunas and other cities.^[5]

There are some inter-regional trains to

Sagua la Grande, and a suburban train connecting "Santa Clara" to the other city station (Santa Clara Universidad, 22°26′19″N 79°54′06″W / 22.43863°N 79.90157°W), serving the "Marta Abreu" University

.

Gallery

Black and white historic postcard of "Marta Abreu" station, circa 1900. People gathered outside the main gates.
A 1930s photo of the station. Old American cars, people and fruit vendor gather outside the building.
A view of the front exterior of the station, and the Ferrocarriles de Cuba (FFCC) central office building, in the back, as of 2007.
View of the station from the level crossing
Platform 1 and building
Platform 2/3 (in the left)
Marta Abreu station across Martyrs Park. At the center the truncated pillar monument dedicated to the martyrs of the Colonial Independence War. Photo from 2010
The Tren Blindado memorial
A SV10-2218 + VS5 railcar at the station's third platform
A freight train passing through the station, headed by two TGM8 locomotives