Train will move on up to the east side

The Costa Rican Railroad Institute (INCOFER) has promised to extend rail routes by mid-February.

If all goes according to plan, INCOFER will add one stop to the Pavas-Latina University (ULatina) train, which will run east to Curridabat, and three stops to the Heredia-San José train, all within the next three weeks.

The Heredia-San José line, which ends at the Atlantic Station, will continue to Barrio Escalante, the University of Costa Rica and end at ULatina. The cars will run along the same tracks that the Pavas-ULatina train uses.

The Pavas-ULatina will end at a terminal that INCOFER has yet to install, 100 meters east of the IndoorClub in Barrio Freses, east of Curridabat´s Plaza del Sol. There will be no stops in between the ULatina and the IndoorClub.

Last weekend, crews in San Pedro and Curridabat chipped away asphalt and concrete to uncover 1.5 kilometers of steel train tracks that had been paved over since the lines were last in use more than 20 years ago.

The extensions represent part of INCOFER´s peripheral railway ring project, which will eventually provide train service to Cartago, the old capital east of San José, and Alajuela, northwest of San José, circling the entire San José metropolitan area. INCOFER estimates the whole project will cost $27 million and require six years of work.