Havana Harbor Rail

SITE: Havana, Cuba

YEAR: Urban Design Grad - 2019, Semester 2

UNIVERSITY: CUNY Spitzer School of Architecture

DURATION OF PROJECT: 4 months

Havana has numerous street typologies within the neighborhoods around the harbor. These different street typologies, along with a lack of funding from the government, have caused Havana to have no reliable or efficient public transit options, which has affected certain neighborhoods around the harbor from receiving necessary resources. Havana currently has the railway infastructure, bike-sharing programs, taxis, and a bus systems in place. Combining these transit options into a reliable system will help connect the neighborhoods around the harbor while creating new public spaces within each neighborhood.

Havana had a complete disinvestment in roads, rail, and marine transport due to the U.S. isolating the county and the collapse of the Soviet Union throughout the mid-twentieth century. The effects of this disinvestment has caused the majority of Havana residents to not own cars, the city having a high road density with a wide range of typologies that require differing modes of transportation, and no viable mass public transportation option.

Havana Cuba Statistics

Population:

2.1 million

Population Density:

2907 person/sq. km

Paved Roads:

29,820 km

Road Density:

0.55 km/sq. km

Automobile Ownership:

37 (est.) per 1000 individuals

Bus passengers:

860,000 per day

Data sources from ONEI (2014), DPPF (2014), EIU (2014), WHO (2013).

The Masterplan

Havana has the railway infrastructure in place that can help connect the different street typologies throughout the neighborhoods. The old harbor rail line will be repurposed for pedestrian transit. Along the rail line, six new train stations will be built for each of the harbor’s neighborhoods while two existing stations will be renovated for reuse. These new stations will have programs attached to the station based on each community’s needs, like a market or cultural venue. Smaller train stations will be placed in between the neighborhood stations so that the harbor rail reaches more communities. All the new train stations will have bike sharing, taxis, and/or bus options outside of the station, so people can get around that specific neighborhood-based off its street typology. Buses and ferries will connect to the harbor rail to create a cohesive and viable public transit system.

Transit System Implementation

1. Reuse the 1930s electric harbor freight rail lines for passenger trains.

3. The harbor rail cars will go to each station. Local transit (buses, bike shares, taxis) will be available from each station based of the neighborhood’s street typology (pedestrian, two lanes, vehicular, disconnected).

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2. Proposed station designs are based on the famous architecture of the 1912 Havana Central Station. Program will be attached to each station tailored specifically for each neighborhood.

4. Transit transfer from the harbor rail stations to the local transit options (buses, bike shares, taxis)

The Commute

Harbor Rail

Rail Station

Local Transit based on Neighborhood's Street Typology

Destination

Full Commute

Seven stations are proposed along the reused harbor rail line. The stations placements are based off the surrounding neighborhoods of Havana’s harbor and population density. There will be inevitable gaps within the proposed transportation network due to the constraints of reusing existing infrastructure. The future developments of this plan would have to look deeper into added bus routes, ferry routes, and smaller, intermediate rail stations along the Harbor Rail Line.

Case Study: Casablanca Station

Neighborhood: Casablanca

Streetscapes: Vehicular, Two Lane

Commute: