The iron roads are rough today. The hardships of hauling loads are felt in the workshop, spanner in hand, by Felipe Díaz Denis, a skilled mechanic at the basic business unit (UEB) Ferroazuc, a flagship collective of the railway system in this central province and the most efficient of its kind in the country.
The working day is very intense. The worker states that «the scarcity of fuel, lubricants and electricity squeeze us, but they do not drown us.» And he continues with the repairs on diesel locomotive 312020, with the skill of more than half a century in that trade.
No less complicated is the task of his workmate, Luis Raúl Barrios Brito, who comments that «number 19 is one of the new machines with problems; I’m innovating, changing the gearboxes,» he says and continues with his task.
José Antonio Rodríguez Fernández, the UEB’s technical deputy director, argues: «We find solutions for the modern TGM8km machines at our centre, because some have stopped working and, due to the deficit of spare parts, we are adapting the hydro-ventilators and the trucks from the old, disused TGM8 locomotives.
«The hydraulic transmissions on the new locomotives break frequently, the gear teeth need filling, and the traction bearings deteriorate a lot due to the poor quality of those parts; innovation is required.»
While the innovators work in the entity’s three workshops, the final preparations of equipment at Ferroazuc’s municipal establishments, located at the Ciro Redondo, Ecuador, Enrique Varona and Primero de Enero sugar mills, are also in their final stage.
There have been days without work there. The pressure from power cuts lessens somewhat with an emergency generator. This aid from the provincial government has made it possible to recover the repair programme for the equipment that will participate in the 2025-2026 sugar harvest, explained Juan Luis Mora Tamayo, the UEB’s general director.
«We must bring 195 carros jaula (cane wagons) to the campaign for transporting cane; 184 are ready; and six locomotives are prepared to start, out of the 10 planned. What remains to be done will not be an impediment because, furthermore, we have the qualified personnel to efficiently carry out the transportation of cane, sugar, final molasses and other products,» he specified.
No Room for Setback
The means of the Avilanian sugar railway workers do not move backwards on the rails of the economy, not even to gain momentum. Despite the great obstacles not only on the railway track and the deficit of spare parts, they advanced last year to exceed the goods transportation plan by nearly 100,000 tonnes and obtain 15 million 139 thousand pesos in profits, 182% of what was planned.
«We transported aggregates to the eastern provinces affected by hurricanes, we took sugar from the central region to the port of Carúpano, we moved gypsum and aggregates for the Siguaney cement factory, and we materialised the commitments of our main mission, which is to move the volumes of cane to the mills and their derivative products,» emphasised Juan Luis.
Maintaining a technical availability coefficient for locomotives and wagons above 90% in these times of multiple contingencies is thanks to the heroism and ingenuity of the men and women of Ferroazuc Ciro Redondo, who do not accept derailments in the fulfilment of their daily task.
