QCOSTARICA – Four of the eight new trains acquired by the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (Incofer) – Costa Rican Railway – left the factory in China this week for Costa Rica.
After the German motors and electrical devices were installed at the CRRC Quingdao Sinfag company factory in China, the locomotives were put in motion and passed technical tests.
This Thursday they were moved to be loaded onto the ship that will be headed for the Caldera port, in Puntarenas, and expected to arrive by the end of November.
The machines will then be transported to the Pacific railway station courtyards, in San José, where they will undergo a series of tests by national and Chinese engineers, with the goal of being in service by the second quarter of 2021.
“All the equipment will have a review period within the country and comply with an operating protocol before being able to put to service,” Briceño said.
The Incofer President pointed out that as part of the preparatory phase “more than 10 km of track have been intervened and work has been carried out on several bridges.”
The next four units will set sail in December and arrive in the country in mid-January.
With the latest technology, each of these trains has a length of 38 meters and a capacity of 372 passengers. They will be made up of two D.M.U “Diesel Multiple Units” each.
From the photos, the new train cars will be a vast improvement of the current.