Panama Canal Railway

Panama Canal Railway Company

Current Panama Canal Railway line () Atlantic Ocean(Caribbean Sea) Port of Colon, Cristobal Atlantic passenger station Monte Lirio bridgeover Gatún River Gatún Lake Gamboa bridgeover Chagres River Continental Dividesummit Pan-American Highwayto Panama City Miraflores tunnel Corozal passenger station Port of Balboa Pacific Ocean(Gulf of Panama) This diagram:
An intermodal train led by two Panama Canal F40PHs through Colón, Panama.
Locale	Isthmus of Panama
Dates of operation	January 28, 1855 (1855-01-28)–Present
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Previous gauge	5 ft (1,524 mm)
Length	47.6 mi (76.6 km)
Headquarters	Panama City, Panama
Website	http://www.panarail.com/home.html

The Panama Canal Railway (Spanish: Ferrocarril de Panamá) is a railway line that runs parallel to the Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in Central America. The route stretches 47.6 miles (76.6 km) across the Isthmus of Panama from Colón (Atlantic) to Balboa (Pacific, near Panama City). It is operated by Panama Canal Railway Company (reporting mark: PCRC), which is jointly owned by Kansas City Southern and Mi-Jack Products.

The Panama Canal Railway currently provides both freight and passenger service.

The infrastructure of this railroad (formerly named the Panama Railway or Panama Rail Road) was of vital importance for the construction of the Panama Canal over a parallel route half a century after it opened. The principal incentive for the building of the rail line was the vast increase in traffic to California owing to the 1849 California Gold Rush. Construction on the Panama Railroad began in 1850 and the first revenue train ran over the full length on January 28, 1855. Referred to as an inter-oceanic railroad when it opened, it was later also described by some as representing a "transcontinental" railroad, despite only transversing the narrow isthmus connecting the North and South American continents.

While the Camino Real trail, and later the Las Cruces trail, built and initially maintained by the Spanish, allowed some cargo and passengers to be carried across the Isthmus of Panama for over three centuries, by the 19th century it was becoming clear that a cheaper, safer, and faster alternative was required. As railroad technology developed in the early 19th century and given the cost and difficulty of constructing a canal with the available technology, a railway seemed the ideal solution.