The head of Peru’s public transport regulator Ositran, Juan Carlos Zevallos, began inspections on Friday of repairs to the railway between Cusco and the sacred Inca citadel Machu Picchu, state news agency Andina reported.
Zevallos is reportedly inspecting work on the rail line between the train station at Piscacucho at Km82 and Machu Picchu Pueblo – the town below the citadel – at Km110.
Repairs to the rail line are being carried out by concessionaire Ferrocarril Transandino.
Travel to Machu Picchu has been suspended since January when torrential rainfalls, mudslides and floods blocked the railway line into the UNESCO World Heritage Site and stranded some 2,000 tourists.
Machu Picchu is expected to reopen on April 1. Zevallos said tourists will be able to access the site by traveling from Cusco to Piscacucho by bus and then continuing by train from that station to Machu Picchu Pueblo.
Machu Picchu is Peru’s main tourist attraction and its closure has reportedly cost the tourism industry millions.
