Bogota and the Railroads: 1880-1920

This paper looks at the impact of railroads on Bogota, Colombia, between 1880 and 1920. I use the journals of foreign travellers that visited the city at different moments during those 40 years to document the economic transformation that the city underwent, and to relate that transformation to the completion of a railroad network that linked the city to its hinterland and to the international markets. The main conclusion is that the railroads transformed the city economically and socially by allowing its residents to import large and heavy capital goods, thereby making modern industries possible. The railroads also had a role in the city’s physical expansion and in the development of its public transportation system.