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St. Kitts Scenic Railway Tour
In the early 21st Century, St. Kitts decided that with the declining sugar market, that they wanted to transition the island from primarily a sugar producer to a tourist destination. They reclaimed land from the sea and built the cruise pier to attract the larger cruise ships full of tourists. They also converted their “Sugar Train” to a “Scenic Train”.
The railway, originally constructed in 1912 allowed sugar cane to be transported to a central sugar factory. The economies of scale achieved by the centralized sugar factory allowed for profitable production of sugar longer than any other island in the West Indies. In a unique partnership between the government of St. Kitts and private owners, the St. Kitts Scenic Railway welcomed its first passengers in Jan of 2003. It is the last operating train in the West Indies.
Th train circles about 3/4 of the island. The morning riders are taken by bus to the South East End of the island just outside of Bassetere, near the old sugar factory. Their guests board the train. Guests can choose to sit in air-conditioned cars with picture windows, or up top in the open air seating. I recommend the open air seating for the views. Must of the train rout is lined with vegetation, and guests really can’t see much of the scenery from there. Up top, it can get pretty rocky with the swaying of the rail cars but the view are much better from there. The train goes about 3/4 of the way around the island before it get to a turn around area near the Eco Park. Our bus diver met us there to complete the trip back to Basseterre. So with this tour guest can completely circumnavigate the island plus take in some great view of the nearby islands of Nevis to the South East and Oranjestad to the North West.
This entry was posted in My Cruise History
Suzanne Klasen is the Owner / Travel Advisor of CruiseOne Suzanne Klasen. We have combined our love of cruising with computer skills to bring you a very informative and entertaining site that follows my cruising travels and thoughts. I hope that you will let me help plan your next vacation.
