KINGSTON, Jamaica – Almost 30 years after the discontinuation of railway service across the country, a potential investor is looking to resume train operations in western Jamaica.

According to Minister of Transport and Mining, Audley Shaw, the investor has made a formal application to the Government of Jamaica to operate rail service from Montego Bay in St James to Appleton Estate in St Elizabeth.

The Minister said that the initial thinking was to lease the line to the interested company. However, a shared-use system is favoured, similar to the arrangement that now obtains with the Jamaica Railway Corporation and the bauxite companies that utilise the railway lines to transport bauxite.

This shared-use arrangement, Shaw noted, has been in place for many years.

“They want to be able to carry tourists from Montego Bay, get into Montpelier, Ipswich and Appleton and then take the tourists on a tour of Appleton Estate,” the Minister said.

Shaw explained that the first phase of the project would start in Montpelier, with the second phase, from Montego Bay to Montpelier, to come on stream later.

Under the arrangement, the operator of the Montego Bay to Appleton train would pay a rental fee for the use of the lines to provide the service within Jamaica’s tourism industry.

The Transport Minister said that the reactivation of the Montego Bay to Appleton Estate service is part of the Government’s thrust to resurrect the railway service across the island.