Editing Transport in Barbados (section)

==Railway==
[[File:Barbados Railway - The Graphic - 8th February 1882 - displayed in Sunbury Plantation House, Barbados.jpg|thumbnail|Barbados railway in ''The Graphic'', 8 February 1882]]
A proposal for a [[railway]] system in Barbados was first made in 1845 by [[United Kingdom|Britain]]. It was not until 1881 that construction began on the new {{Track gauge|3ft6in|lk=on}} [[narrow-gauge]] [[Barbados Railway]] by an independent company for the purpose of transporting [[sugar cane]] across the island to the seaport of [[Bridgetown]].<ref>[http://www.enuii.org/vulcan_foundry/miscellaneous/The%20Barbados%20Railway.pdf The History of the Barbados Railway]</ref> It was later [[Track gauge conversion|converted]] to {{Track gauge|2ft6in|lk=on}} [[narrow gauge]] by [[Everard Calthrop]].

From the early 20th century on, the railway system carried produce to and from factories to the city and also passengers to and from the city. However, complications arose. There was a lack of funding for the maintenance and upkeep of the system. Also, the poor designs of the tracks and cars posed a challenge against the high tides of the [[Atlantic Ocean]].  To keep the railway in use, the government of Barbados took over in 1916; however, it continued to decay. By 1937 the railway was shut down due to safety issues.

There are still remnants of the railway today and many can be seen by the coastlines. And every year there is a marathon run & walk along the old route from Bridgetown to Carrington on the East Coast.<ref>[http://www.ufukuzo.com/Home/events/great-train-hike-run Great Train Run]</ref>

In 1881 a horse-drawn [[tram]]way, the [[Barbados Tramway Company]], was constructed around Bridgetown by the [[Scotland|Scottish]] railway engineer [[Robert Francis Fairlie|Robert Fairlie]] and ceased operations in 1925.<ref>[http://www.tramz.com/bb/00.html The Tramways of Bridgetown Barbados]</ref>