Once the gondola wagons are loaded at the mine loading docks, they are moved to the railway yard, where trains are assembled using three 2,000‑HP locomotives and 125 gondola wagons with a 90‑ton capacity. These trains are then transported to Ciudad Guayana over a distance of 130 km.

Railway System
The system comprises the rail networks connecting Puerto Ordaz and Ciudad Piar, the interconnection between Puerto Ordaz and the Palúa Port, and the railway lines serving the Direct Reduction plants in the Matanzas Industrial Sector (Sidor, Ferrominera’s Pellet Plant, Orinoco Iron, Comsigua, and Posven). With a total of 320 km of track, it is the largest railway network in Venezuela.

Resources
Approximately 30 million tons of iron ore are transported annually—including run‑of‑mine ore, fines, lumps, pellets, and briquettes—to and from the steel plants. This operation is carried out using 38 locomotives with power ratings between 1,750 and 2,000 HP, and a fleet of 1,784 wagons: 1,300 gondola wagons with 90‑ton capacity for transporting ore from the mines; 467 hopper wagons for transporting fines, pellets, and briquettes; and 17 side‑dump wagons for transporting lump ore.

Operations Control
Centralized operational control is performed through a Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) system and an automatic block signaling system. Communication is conducted via radio link. All operations are monitored and managed from the central control office in Puerto Ordaz.

Railway Track Characteristics
The maximum axle load is 32.5 tons. The maximum gradient is 3.1%, and the minimum gradient is 0.045%. The track gauge is 1,435 mm (standard gauge). Rails are 132 pounds per yard. The maximum permitted speed for current operations is 45 km/h for loaded trains and 55 km/h for empty trains.