Rail transport in Costa Rica

On 14 March 1926, the El Virilla train accident happened on the Atlantic line, in a religious pilgrimage from Heredia to Cartago, out of around a thousand passengers, there were 385 deaths and 93 injured passengers, so far the worst train accident in the country's railroad history.

Although it once connected the Caribbean ports of Limón and Moín with the Pacific port of Caldera, traversing the Central Valley area and Costa Rica's largest cities along the route, the system fell into disrepair towards the end of the 20th century following a financial crisis that saw the President of Costa Rica, José María Figueres, order the cessation of Incofer's commercial activity, resulting in the redundancies of most of its workforce except for a select few who were charged with preserving railway assets.[7]

However, operations were never fully suspended, and there was always at least the occasional freight and maintenance traffic along certain parts of the network. Some other parts, on the other hand, were essentially abandoned until 2005 when urban passenger services were reintroduced along a corridor between the suburbs of Pavas, to the west of San José, and San Pedro, to the east. Since then, services have been greatly increased following investment in second-hand DMUs imported from Spain and the rehabilitation of dozens of kilometres of previously inoperative track. As of May 2014, the bulk of railway operations occur in the Central Valley area and consist of passenger services between:

• The San José suburbs of Pavas, Curridabat and Belen.
• San José and the cities of Heredia and Cartago.

Work is now under way to rehabilitate further sections beyond these main termini, such as between Heredia and Alajuela, and from Cartago to Paraiso, in order to extend the existing services.[8]

Trains (particularly freight trains, as well as a privately operated tour train) ran between San José and the port of Caldera until 2011, when a short section of the line was compromised following the construction of Route 27. This prompted a dispute between Incofer and the highway developer, Autopistas del Sol. This dispute has not yet been resolved and Incofer officials have been quoted as saying that while they are technically able to run trains over the damaged section, it is dangerous to do so. The resulting lack of regular traffic on this line has facilitated the theft of rails.[9]

Visitors to Costa Rica may perceive the railway as being somewhat limited compared to other forms of transport, due to the current lack of anything except a basic commuter service.[10]

While mainly freight lines, there were passenger services to the Pacific since 1910 and to the Caribbean since 1890[11] from San José, but these were abandoned and under maintained. Only the remnants of the urban areas remain.

• Freight trains San José - Caldera (Incofer)
• Freight trains from Puerto Limón to Fortuna and towards Guápiles, mainly for banana transportation, as from 2007 on steel and construction materials have been added to the freight transported

The currently abandoned Ferrocarril al Pacífico first started in 1857 by implementing a mule-drawn railroad, between Puntarenas and Barranca, the construction of the current right-of-way occurred from 1895 to 1903, which was halted due to lack of foreign funds and then proceeded with national funds until 1910. From 1926 to 1930, the railroad was converted to electrical, which then changed its name to Pacific Electric Railroad (Ferrocarril Electrico al Pacífico, F.E. al P.). It was in use until 1995. The railroad of this line in the Greater Metropolitan Area was re-purposed to create the Interurbano Line.

Works started in 1871 for the Ferrocarril al Atlántico, and ended in 1890, currently the railroad between Cartago and the Caribbean plains is abandoned, but there are steel freight operations on the Caribbean ocean side.

The railroad of this line in the Greater Metropolitan Area was re-purposed to create the Interurbano Line, which covers the East of the Central Valley up to Cartago.

By reconditioning and restoring the railway tracks in the Greater Metropolitan Area, Incofer, the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (Costa Rican Raliway Institute in English) was able to put into work a commuter line, the Tren Interurbano, which connects the provinces of Alajuela, Heredia, San José and Cartago. There are street running trains in several places.

Incofer runs the following routes:

(San Jose is the nation's capital):

San Jose-Cartago.[12]

Curridabat-Pavas-Belen[13]

San Jose-Heredia-Alejuela[14]

Currently abandoned and dismantled, the Ferrocarril de Quepos was an essential part of the banana production in the Central Pacific coast of the country, it was 39.5 km (24.5 mi) long, between Coto Junction (Unión) and Puerto González. Right-of-way is now owned by Incofer.[15]

Now abandoned, the Ferrocarril de Golfito was used for banana freight transportation and had a connection to Puerto Armuelles in Panama, it was 89 km (55 mi) long, covered the hamlets of Palmar Sur, Piedras Blancas, Coto 47, Laurel and Golfito. Right-of-way is now owned by Incofer. Several locomotives were cosmetically restored and can be seen in Golfito.

Tren Turistico Arenal

At the Hotel Los Héroes in Nuevo Arenal, Tilarán Canton (Guanacaste Province), a Swiss hotelier has built a mountain railway for the guests of his panorama restaurant, Pequeña Helvecia (little Switzerland). The rolling stock had been originally used by a Swiss farmer from Chéseaux, who built a 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) field railway but never got a permission to run it. The hotelier bought it in 1999 and put in operation in 2000 as a tourist attraction under the name "Tren Turistico Arenal". As of 2004 and 2017, it is 3.5 km (2.2 mi) long, with an elevation of 200 m (660 ft) and two tunnels.[21]

Built in the 1970s, this is a small 1.2 kilometer loop railroad with a diesel engine and three passenger cars for family entertainment purposes inside the club. It was built by engineers that previously worked on the rail to the Pacific.[22]