Heredia To San José in 19 Minutes By Train
Can you imagine travelling from downtown Heredia to downtown San José in only 19 minutes? That can be so in a couple of years if a plan to build an electric train system becomes a reality.

The project to build an electric train system would cost us$136 million dollars and would reduce the travel time of more than an hour that it now takes at peak times by bus or car, to minutes, according to a revived feasibility study by the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) of the use of the Tren Eléctrico Metropolitano (TREM).

The MOPT wants to now build the first stage of the project which would see train service between the area near the hospital in Heredia and the Pacifico train station in downtown San José.

The trip from station to station would be not more than 30 minutes, but only 19 minutes to the Parque Nacional.

The project would use smaller trains than now in use by the Tren Urbano that provides regular morning and afternoon rush hour service between San Pedro and Pavas. The smaller cars woul make it easier for the train to move through the urban areas, and will include a system of traffic lights, overpasses and 13 stops.

MOPT minister, Karla González, confirmed that she is, like president Oscar Arias, ready to bring this project from the planning stage to reality. "It is time to think in quality public transportation. The streets are clearly not enough for the quantity of vehicles and the solution is not only to widen them", said minister González.

A feasibility study on the TREM was done in 2004 by the French companies, Systra, who has extensive expertise in the field and the Astris Finance, specializing in the financing of such projects.

The companies concluded in their study that Costa Rica has great potential for implementation of this type of transportation system.

The plan calls for the us$136 million dollars required to build the first phase of the project to be financed by us$88 million dollars by the government and the balance financed from the concessionaire awarded the contract to operate the train.

Minister González assured, though the cost of the project is high, the fares would be subsidized by the government to get people to use the train.

The next step is for the MOPT to ask the Contraloría General de la República (Comptroller's office) authorization to use the feasibility study to prepare a bid.

Meanwhile, the MOPT will begin the cleaning up of the existing train route and will remove anyone that is infringing on the right of way, which in the area of downtown Heredia has become common. On some parts of the train right of way, municipal roads have been built and homes constructed almost on the tracks, which will no doubt cause the MOPT controversy in its attempts regain the right of way.