Which railway across Panama opened in 1855, decades before the Panama Canal?

The railway across Panama that opened in 1855, decades before the Panama Canal, was the Panama Railway.

Construction began in 1850 to serve travelers heading between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts after the California Gold Rush. The line crossed the Isthmus of Panama between the port of Colón, then called Aspinwall, and Panama City. Its first full coast-to-coast revenue train ran on January 28, 1855.

The project was a major engineering achievement. Builders faced swamps, steep terrain, torrential rain, disease, and difficult supply lines. Cholera, yellow fever, and malaria killed thousands of workers, though historical estimates vary. The completed route was about 47 miles long and made Panama a much faster transit corridor than overland trails and river crossings.

The Panama Railway was not the Panama Canal, but it later became crucial to canal construction. Parts of the route were relocated as the canal and Gatun Lake were built. The railway’s modern successor is commonly called the Panama Canal Railway, which reopened after reconstruction in 2001.