East-Side Universities Get Heredia Train Service

The Heredia-San José train will make six daily trips to and from San Pedro, east of San José, beginning next week, according to the Costa Rican Railroad Institute (INCOFER).

The train will continue east from the Estación del Atlántico – its current final stop near San José’s Parque Nacional – to the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and the Universidad Latina (ULatina).

The cost of a ticket from Heredia, north of San José, to San Pedro, will be ¢350 ($0.64), although the Public Services Regulatory Authority likely will adjust the price after service begins, INCOFER said in a statement this week.

In the mornings, two trains will run from Heredia to San Pedro and one from San Pedro to Heredia.

The first train will leave from ULatina at 6:15 a.m. and arrive in downtown Heredia at 7 a.m.

From downtown Heredia, trains will leave for ULatina at 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. and arrive at the university at 7:10 and 8:10 a.m., respectively.

In the afternoons, trains will leave at 4:15 and 6:15 from the ULatina, bound for Heredia. These trips will last 45 minutes. And there will be one late train from Heredia to the ULatina, leaving at 5:30 p.m. and reaching the university at 6:10 p.m.

Next week, INCOFER also will begin train service from the Estación del Pacífico – eight blocks south of Parque Central, near the Carit Women’s Hospital – to the Estación Atlántico, which will continue to Heredia. The train will leave the Estación del Pacífico at 5:30 p.m. and arrive in Heredia at 6:30 p.m.

Service on the new routes will be Monday through Friday. INCOFER said it will evaluate the possibility of more frequent service in a few weeks.

–Mike McDonald