The completion of this longitudinal line leaves only the territory lying south of latitude 42 degrees, and forming the greater part of what is known as Chilean Patagonia without a railway.
The service on the railways in Chile is, as a rule, unsatisfactory, and on some of the lines it may be designated as bad. This is due to the fact that the management of the government roads is influenced by politics. The compensation of government railway employés is very low, and payment of salaries not infrequently long delayed and somewhat uncertain. The tenure of service depends upon political influence, and there is little in the system to encourage honest industry. Employés feel no personal responsibility and to cheat the government, particularly in the failure to render good service, is a common practice that is not considered a crime.
First class fares correspond to those prevailing in the United States, but second and third-class fares and freight rates are very low. The express trains from Valparaiso to Santiago, and from the capital south to Concepcion carry American chair cars in the day, and on the southern section, Pullman cars on the night trains.
The lack of facilities for carrying freight, the unsatisfactory service in cargo trains, and the slow method of unloading and loading cars, is a serious handicap to business depending upon the prompt delivery of merchandise and material. The freight service on the government roads is generally bad. The yard and track facilities in all the important commercial centers are wholly inadequate to the requirements. It is frequently impossible to secure cars, and when once the freight is loaded and accepted by the railway, there is much uncertainty as to when it will be forwarded to its destination. If the freight consists of perishable goods the chances are that it will be seriously damaged or entirely destroyed before delivery. In either event there is no recourse in law for damages.
In 1904 there was a great shortage of freight cars in Valparaiso. Merchants and manufacturers were demanding cars in which to ship cargo long overdue in delivery. When the manager of the State railways was appealed to for relief, he stated that all freight cars on that section of the road had been ordered to Santiago where a census of the rolling stock was being taken. Complaint against abuses in the service is useless.
One redeeming feature of the railway service in Chile, is the cheap passenger fares for the poor people, who are ill able to pay high rates, and who do not expect much in return for their money. Time is no object to them, and if trains run slowly and not up to schedule, there is no complaint.
ELECTRIC ROADS.
The use of electricity as a motive power in Chile, is in its incipiency. Electric car systems now in operation are, the street railways in Santiago, Valparaiso, Concepcion and Talca, and their respective suburbs, a few lines in mountainous districts, used for carrying ores from the mines to the reducing stations, an interurban line connecting Concepcion with the ports of Talcahuano and Coronel, and one extending from Valparaiso to Viña del Mar. A government concession has been granted for the building of an electric railway from Santiago to Valparaiso, and plans are being made for the electrification of some of the government roads.
Connecting with the railways of the country are cart roads, the best of which may be classed as bad, and the branches connecting with the principal highways are nothing more than trails over a rough mountainous country. Few new roads are being built, and little attention is given to the improvement or maintenance of those already constructed.