Los Andes, founded in 31 May 1791 as Santa Rosa de Los Andes, is a Chilean town of 80,000 inhabitants and a municipality ("comuna") located in the province of the same name, in ValparaÃso Region ("Fifth Region" of Chile). It lies on the route between Santiago and Chile's primary border crossing with Argentina by way of the summit of the Uspallata Pass in the cordillera de los Andes.
Los Andes stands at the beginning of the now derelict 1,000 mm (3 ft 3⅜ in) metre gauge Transandine Railway, opened in 1910, which once ran to Mendoza in Argentina, providing a link between the 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge line from Valparaiso to Los Andes, operated by the Chilean State Railway, and the 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge line from Mendoza to Buenos Aires operated by the Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway. It is now being reconstructed. Due to the lack of concrete actions to restore this link, the most recent estimations are that the line could be restored around October, 2009. However, as of October 2007, there is no indication of any restorative work underway . |
