About this journey

Atocha station sits at 3,658 metres above sea level, at the convergence of railway and road routes linking the mining districts of Chorolque, Ánimas and San Vicente. The town itself grew from a railway settlement: on 22 November 1912, construction began on the first houses of the Ferrocarril Antofagasta–Bolivia here, earning Atocha the nickname 'Punta Rieles'. From 1913, the southward extension of the line from Oruro through the town cemented its role as a key hub for the mineral-rich surrounding territory. The landscape around the station reflects that heritage — wind- and rain-eroded rock formations rise from the puna, and the colonial-era mining districts of Chorolque and Ánimas have operated continuously since the Spanish colonial period.

The route descends from the high puna, where elevations exceed 3,600 metres, down through progressively lower valley floors. Near Tupiza, the terrain shifts to dry, reddish canyon walls shaped by around 300 mm of annual rainfall — formations estimated at 40 million years old that define the approach to the valley. Tupiza station lies at 2,850 metres above sea level, set within the narrow agricultural valley of the Río Tupiza, and is served by trains on the Villazón–Oruro corridor operated by Empresa Ferroviaria Andina. The journey moves from a high-altitude mining hub through ancient eroded uplands to a sheltered valley town, tracing one of Bolivia's most striking changes in both altitude and landscape character.