of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Without much fanfare, transportation officials are planning a network of electrical railways that would run from Cartago on the east to Alajuela in the west. This would be a metro system that would have its first leg — Heredia to San José — in operation in three years. The initial cost would be well over $100 million and the final cost would approach $500 million. The goal is to provide quick, safe transportation without the negative environmental problems of buses and motor vehicles. The initial stage would move 52,000 persons a day, according to Juan Ramon Rivera, president of the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles, known as INCOFER. Already the project is generating opposition from groups that do not like the idea that the government will be giving a 20-year concession to a large company to build and run the rail line. A week ago transportation officials opened up bidding on a feasibility study for the line. A pre-feasibility study had been conducted by the French firm of SYSTRA, a world leader in rail technology. The firm that wins the bid will have nearly two years to plan and present technical and financial specifications, then build the first stage. Nine firms expressed interest in bidding. The Costa Rican government hopes to pay the bulk of the cost, but perhaps a third will be paid for by foreign grants. The government of France has donated money for the initial studies. The project will run until at least 2020, according to current plans. |
Capital
projects in Costa Rica generally take longer than the time that is allocated
for them, so the first quiet, air conditioned car may not hit the rails for
some time, if at all. However, officials seek a better way of moving people,
particularly in light of high fuel prices.
Certainly in the plans is the existing underused rail line that runs from Caldera near Puntarenas to San José. The new route will run from Heredia to the Atlantic railway station at Avenida 3 and Calle 23 northeast of the downtown. The current rail line accommodates several freight trains a day taking mostly rolls of steel for a Tibás factory. The only passenger service is a tourist train that runs on weekends to the Pacific. Most rail service was terminated in the mid-1990s, and parts of the rail line to the Caribbean has deteriorated. The initial criticism of the project stems from concern that the rail operation will be a form of monopoly. However, officials at the Ministerio de Obras Pública y Transportes have conducted extensive legal studies and obtained agreement that concessions can provide the infrastructure that the country needs but cannot afford. The eventual design probably will not be for a high-speed line. The French railway system had one of its high-speed trains clocked at 515.3 kms. per hour (320.2 mph) in 1990. A slower operation would be more likely in Costa Rica. SYSTRA now has a contract to enlarge the rail system in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Critics say that the Pacheco administration, which originated this new rail emphasis in 2002, is trying to lock in the project before the 2006 elections. The politics of new rail lines can be complex. Lots of money is spent on right-of-ways, new stations and parking lots for commuters. |