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The great desideratum in Mexico has always been cheap and rapid transportation. For many years communication between the various towns could only be had by means of carts and on horseback. At length a system of diligences was established, which of course was only adapted to carrying passengers. The first line of railroad—that of the Mexican Railway Company, connecting the city of Vera Cruz with the national capital—was begun in 1837. On September 16, 1869, the branch of this road from Mexico to Puebla, a distance of 115¾ miles, was opened with great pomp and ceremony. Trains commenced running on the division between Orizaba and Vera Cruz on September 5, 1872, and the entire route was completed on January 17, 1873.

The Mexican Government, in September, 1880, granted charters to the Mexican Central Railway Company and to the Mexican National Construction Company, and in June, 1881, to the International and Interoceanic Railway Company. These corporations are the three great American trunk-lines of Mexico. In May, 1881, a concession was obtained by General U. S. Grant for a road to be known as the Mexican Southern Railroad.

The charters generally run for a term of ninety-nine years, at the end of which the roads revert to the Government. If the latter decides to sell or lease the lines, the companies are to be entitled to the preference.

The Government, since 1877, has issued charters to the several States, and to various individuals, for the construction of other railroads in the interior of the country. But none of these roads is of sufficient importance to merit an extended notice here, and many of the grantees have forfeited their charters for failure to complete their lines within the specified time.