San José and Heredia Commuter Train To
Be Running In Two Weeks
The end of the month, the four "Apolo"
trains are set to take to the rails to
provide commuter service between San José
and Heredia and at only a cost of ¢350
colones, each way, the train offer to get
passengers between the two stations in 30
minutes and in comfort that includes air
conditioned cars and a smooth and quiet
ride.
The Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles
(Incofer) purchased the units from the
Ferrocarriles Españoles de Vía Estrecha (FEVE)
at a cost of 2 million Euros each, plus the
cost of transporting them to Costa Rica and
modifications so that they can can on the
Incofer tracks.
In addition, the Incofer has to invest to
rehabilitate the railway between San José
and Heredia, a railway that had been
abandoned for more than a decade. In
addition, the Incofer is investing in the
clean up of the area along the railway, as
refuse by residents has piled up, especially
in Tibás, a city that has continuing problem
with its garbage collection and a serious
lack of culture by people living along the
railway route.
The train will provide service from Monday
to Friday between 6am and 8am and 4:30pm to
7:30pm from the estación al Atlántico in San
José, diagonal to the Parque Nacional and
Heredia, a distance of 10 kilometres.
Heredianos have been anxious for the train,
waiting for a service that, after month
after month of delays, will make the trip
easier and economical.
Currently it can take more than an hour to
travel from Heredia to San José and can cost
about ¢50.000 colones monthly for gasoline.
The train will take half of the time and
only cost ¢15.000 monthly and no stress of
sitting in traffic, especially bottlenecks
like the area around Pozuelo in La Uruca and
the Virilla bridge.
The Heredia train can carry up to 250
passengers on each run and are quite
different from the noisy and uncomfortable
trains used on the Pavas - San Pedro route.
The Heredia train cars, in addition to the
air conditioning, are quiet and run smooth,
almost giving the feeling that train is not
moving at all.
Of course, for most of the ride, passengers
will have to keep the windows rolled up. The
garbage and the stench along some parts of
the route are unbearable. Many residents
have taken to using the railway as their own
personal garbage dumps and although railway
workers have been busy replacing ties and
clean up of the rails, there is still work
to be done to clean up the environment along
side the railway.
The train will have seven stops in between
the two terminals (San Franciso de Heredia
and Estacion al Atlantico), the Miraflores,
Santa Roas, Cuatro Reinas de Tibas, Cinco
Esquinas, Calle Blancos, Unversidad de Costa
Rica and Universidad Latina.
|
