Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies
Cuba's railway history began on October 12, 1834, when the Queen Regent of Spain, Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, approved the building of the first line. When the Compañía de Caminos de Hierro de la Habana opened the line from Havana to Bejucal on November 19, 1837, the first steam railway line in Latin America. At that date Spain itself did not possess any railway lines.