RICO’s Q — Costa Rica’s commuter train has the potential to be a major solution for the daily gridlock choking the Gran Área Metropolitana (GAM). But instead of easing traffic headaches, it’s often a source of frustration.
Delays and service suspensions are common — sometimes because of accidents on the tracks, but mostly due to the poor management—incompetence—by the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (INCOFER).
Traffic in San José and its surrounding areas is a nightmare. Thousands spend hours stuck in jams that barely move. Public transportation has long relied on buses, which get caught in the same never-ending congestion.
The commuter train could change that. It could offer a real alternative for getting around. Instead, it runs only during weekday rush hours, limiting its usefulness. How can anyone seriously take it as an option if it’s barely available?
Take someone in Santa Ana trying to reach Cartago, for example. First, they have to battle traffic just to get to the nearest train station, which is already far away. Then, after a slow ride, they face the same struggle getting from the station to their final destination. The return trip feels even more exhausting — long waits for the afternoon train, and fingers crossed the service actually runs.
On weekends or holidays, fuggetaboutit!
The train service we see today is the product of years of stop-and-go efforts. After passenger trains shut down in the 1990s, limited service restarted in 2005 with the Pavas-Montes de Oca line, expanded to Atlántico-Heredia in 2009, and now reaches Cartago and Alajuela. Yet, it’s still no better at moving people efficiently than before.
A crucial north-south route, connecting densely populated areas like Tibás and Desamparados, is still missing.
The current network barely scratches the surface of the sprawling metro area’s needs. There’s talk of expanding, but no real money or plans to maintain what’s already there.
If you want a prime example of INCOFER’s mismanagement, look at their two-week shutdown at the end and start of each year. Trains stop running after December 23 and don’t resume until January 5.
On paper, it sounds sensible—fewer passengers, quieter roads, a good time for repairs. But that’s exactly when many people have time off and could benefit from reliable train service the most.
Incofer seems completely disconnected from what the city really needs. Despite this, it keeps tapping into government funds to support a service that’s neither efficient nor built to serve its current or future users.
What’s striking is that not a single one of the 20 presidential candidates has made this issue part of their platform.
Just saying.