Heredia - San
José Train Finally Leaves The Station
The Heredia - San José commuter train is now
a reality with the inauguration run Saturday
morning when the four locomotives and cars
purchased from Spain left the Estación al
Atlántico in San José bound for the "ciudad
de las flores".
Hundreds came out to see the train leave the
station and many more greeted the train as
it made its way along the tracks to Heredia.
The train carried Costa Rican president
Oscar Arias and several cabinet ministers,
along with a group of 25 children from the
Arthur Gough shelter in Santa Ana.
The Heredia - San José commuter train
service officials begins tomorrow (Monday)
morning after months of delays, first with
problems in outfitting the locomotives and
cars to the Costa Rican tracks, followed by
a series of setbacks in track repairs,
including a legal problem stemming from a
complaint by a resident affected by work on
the track.
A deal to allow the train to begin service
was reached two weeks ago while lawyers sort
out the legal problems of the complaint.
The train will offer commuter service from
Monday to Friday between Heredia centre and
the San José station between 5:30am and
8:30am and 4:30pm and 8pm, with two stops in
between, one at Santo Domingo adn the other
at Cuatro Reinas de Tibás.
The cost is ˘350 colones each way and takes
about 30 minutes to complete. The cost of
taking the bus is a few colones less but
travel time is between 2 and 3 times that of
the train.
The service is expected to take thousands of
vehicles off the road that now are part of
the normal congestion between Heredia and
San José.
President Arias commented that the Heredia -
San José train is one personal goal achieved
during his administration.
There are now plans to revive commuter train
service between San José and Alajuela and
San José and Cartago. |
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