Government Studying Railway Concessions
The new government of Oscar Arias is studying the possibility of revitalizing train service, both passenger and cargo, with the help of private business.

Karla González, the new Ministra de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT), told the Legislative Assembly yesterday that the railway is one area that the government is considering giving out on concession.

"We believe that the railway has more real possibilities to carry people in a faster way. In as much as cargo, it is more logical to move the number of containers by rail and take them off the highways", said the minister.

Under the government's plan, the railway would be operated under a contract or license. The owner or owners of the concession operate as an independent business and pays either a fixed fee, a percentage of revenue or profit, or both to the government.

According to figures released by Riteve SyC, the vehicular inspection company, there are 114.000 trucks registered of which 29.300 are for heavy loads of more than 3.5 tonnes.

Miguel Carabaguíaz, president of the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (Incofer), said that there always been intereste from the private sector to be involved with the railway. "From a certain point of view private investment in the cargo rail has a lot of possibilities and great potential", said Carabaguíaz.

The Incofer chief added that he has a meeting scheduled this afternoon (Tuesday) with president Oscar Arias to discuss the future of the train in the country.

At the meeting, Carabaguíaz added, he will discuss with the president the possible routes and concessions that would be made available as well as the governments planned investment in the railway.

Carabaguíaz feels it is important to revitalize the rail system in both the Pacific and Caribbean coast, that would permit the movement of cargo between Puerto Caldera to the west and Puerto Limón on the east. The movement of cargo by rails would greatly improve the traffic problems on the nations highways, said Carabaguíaz.

The train was stopped in 1996.

Train service was revived last August by the former government (with Carabaguíaz at the helm) to move commuter traffic between San Pedro and Pavas. The plan, according to Incofer, has been a success and is moving to expand the service to Heredia and San José, followed by Cartago in the very near future.

This is not the first time that the government has considered giving railway concessions. The Rodríguez administration did so back in 2001, but failed due to poor offers at the time. Now, Carabaguíaz added, the commuter train is running and the situation is totally different than that of the past.

Before shutting down, the train carried an average of 729.000 tonnes of cargo a year, mainly banana and wheat and employed 1.150 people.

Carabaguíaz said that for the train to completely run again an estimated 325 kilometres of track have to be repaired or constructed and remove people who have made some of the old train stations their homes, including removing a number of illegal construction along the railway.