Rail transport in Costa Rica

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Railroads in Costa Rica are owned by Incofer (Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles), and are of 1067 narrow gauge. In 2006, Incofer operated suburban commuter trains from San José to San Pedro, Universidad Latina (4 km East) and to Pavas (6 km West), plus freight trains San José - Caldera (Pacific port, 91 km). A private company - AmericaTravel - organizes occasional weekend tourist trains (The Tico Train Tour) from San José to Caldera.

History

In 1871, a contract was given for construction of a railroad from Alajuela to Puerto Limón on the Caribbean coast passing through San José, under the government of General Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez. The construction from Alajuela to San José was finished in the beginning of 1873 and later continued until Cartago. Necessary materials and equipment were brought in from Puntarenas to Alajuela by oxen pulled carts. Due to shortage of finance and natural difficulties (especially around Río Sucio), the completion of the following sections was delayed. The whole line to Limón started operations on December 7, 1890.

A contract for building the Pacific railroad was signed in 1897. Again, the enterprise faced natural, financial, and political difficulties. The Pacific Railroad was officially inaugurated on July 23rd, 1910 when the first engine Maria Cecilia departed from Puntarenas to San José with passengers and cargo. (from Tico Train history)

Jamaican Railroad Workers

Henry Meiggs Keith, an American hired by the Costa Rican government, was in charge of this buiding the railroad to the Atlantic. He insisted in utilizing blacks for clearing the forest and building the railroad tracks. In 1872 the first group of Jamaicans entered the country. These Jamaicans and their descendants would become the main inhabitants of the region, thus providing the basis for a culture that was entirely different from any other in the country. The two large Jamaican migrations occurred at the time of the railroad construction and in the next century, for the banana plantations owned by the United Standard Fruit Company.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica 1911, the transcontinental railway from Limon to Puntarenas was begun in 1871, and formed the nucleus of a system intended ultimately to connect all the fertile parts of the country, and to join the railways of Nicaragua and Panama. It skirted the Atlantic coast as far as the small port of Matina; thence it passed inland to Reventazón River, and bifurcated to cross the northern mountains; one branch going north of Irazú, while the other traversed the Ochomogo Pass. At San José these lines reunited, and the railway continued to Alajuela, the small Pacific port of Tivives, and Puntarenas. The railways were owned partly by the state, partly by the Costa Rica railway company, which, in 1904, arranged to build several branch lines through the banana districts of the Atlantic littoral.

In 1926, a decision was made to electrify the lines. First electric train ran from San José to Puntarenas on April 8, 1930. (from Tico Train Spanish)

The railroad network was damaged during an earthquake in 1991 ([1]) and operation suspended in 1995. Since 2000, the state railroad authority (Incofer) has been working to resume and popularize rail transport again. [2]

FERISTSA

The proposed FERISTSA Railway would connect Mexico with Panama with 1435 gauge via Central America. [1] It would pass through Costa Rica.

Current situation

In 2006, the following trains ran in Costa Rica:

  • Tico Train Tour San José - Caldera (91 km), weekend tourist trains, privately managed using infrastructure of Incofer
  • Commuter trains San José - San Pedro, Universidad Latina (4 km, Incofer)
  • Commuter trains San José - Pavas (6 km along the same line as Tico Train Tour, Incofer)
  • Freight trains San José - Caldera (Incofer)
  • No connections to Panama or Nicaragua.

As of August 2008:

  • The commuter trains are no longer running.
  • The Tico Train Tour is not running to Caldera due to track issues but plans to be operational in November.
  • The Tico Train Tour runs an abridged trip to Atenas on irregular weekends.

As of October, 2008:

  • A commuter train is going to operate from Heredia to San José, and the rail line is being cleaned and prepared. The locomotives have been slowly approaching Heredia center city in the last weeks of the month.
  • It is expected that this service will start its operation in December.

As of December 2008

  • The Costa Rican Institute of Railroads (Incofer) signed a 2 million euro agreement with FEVE, the Spanish narrow gauge operator, to buy four used diesel-electric passenger trains of the "Apolo" 2400 series (images [3], [4]) that had been operating in Cantabria. The agreement includes technical assistance, spare parts and conversion of the trains from meter gauge to 1,067 millimeters. The trains have undergone major upgrades in recent years, affecting both technology and their interiors. [5]

Swiss railroad

It operates at Hotel Los Héroes in Nuevo Arenal, Tilarán (Guanacaste Province). A Swiss farmer from Chéseaux built a 600 field railroad but never got a permission to run it. Costa Rican hotellier bought it in 1999 and put in operation in 2000 as a tourist attraction. In 2004, it was 3.5 km long, with elevation 200 m and two tunnels  Ferrolatino.

See also

References

  1. ^ Reference.com/Encyclopedia/FERISTSA

External links


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