Tren Francés (Spanish for "French Train") was the name of the flagship Cuban InterCity service between Havana and Santiago. Owned by Ferrocarriles de Cuba, it was operated by SNCF ex-Trans Europ Express (TEE) , originally used in Europe between Paris and Amsterdam, on the Étoile du Nord service and used in France between Paris and Nice on Le Mistral. Both of these two French flagship trains were replaced by TGV and Thalys from 1982 (Mistral) to 1996 (Étoile du Nord). The Tren Francés was formed by 12 coaches and a Chinese-built diesel locomotive.The Tren Francés on cubacasas.net
Over the years, the coaches deteriorated. In 2019, the service was replaced by a new service using Chinese-built coaches.
Overview The Tren Francés (also spelled El Francés or Especial), "The railway in Cuba" on hicuba.com Some info about the Tren Francés on santiagoencuba.com named after the country of origin of the coaches (France) was the fastest long-distance service in Cuba. It had the most modern coaches purchased by FFCC from SNCF in 2000 for 38 million francs, and was divided into two classes named primera especial (1st) and primera (nominally 1st, identifiable as 2nd). There were no sleeping cars, couchettes or car-carrying wagons.
Route Travelling along the Havana-Santiago line, the Tren Francés made intermediate stops only at the main cities of Santa Clara and Camagüey. Other important cities traversed along the route were Matanzas, Colón, Ciego de Ávila, Florida, and Las Tunas. Some junction stations to nearby provincial capitals were served at Cabaiguán (for Sancti Spíritus) and Cacocum (for Holguín).
Havana – Santiago (eastbound)Cuban long-distance timetables at seat61.com (section "Train times & fares") Station Time Km / Mi City served Havana Central 18:27 Havana Santa Clara 00:06 Santa Clara Camagüey 03:39 Camagüey Santiago de Cuba 09:12 Santiago de Cuba
Santiago – Havana (westbound)
Station Time Km / Mi City served Santiago de Cuba 20:17 Santiago de Cuba Camagüey 02:07 Camagüey Santa Clara 06:38 Santa Clara Havana Central 10:57 Havana
See also Ferrocarriles de Cuba Lists of named passenger trains
References
External links
"A train travel from Santiago de Cuba to Havana" (Havana Times)