Panama: Rail Activity Down 30%

Cargo and passenger transportation fell 30% between November 2008 and June 2009.

Friday, November 27, 2009

The drop in cargo transportation was caused by a considerable reduction in sea shipping activity from companies like Maersk, APL and Evergreen.

"Passenger transportation was also hit with a 30% reduction", reported Prensa.com, "this is explained by the inauguration of the Panama-Colón Highway".

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More on this topic

Railroad Movement in Panama Down 40%

April 2013

Problems in the computer systems at Balboa port have slowed container cargo on the railroad.

Currently three thousand containers a week are being transported when normally in the same period of the year nearly eight to nine thousand containers a week are mobilized.

Tomás Kenna, president of the Panama Canal Railway, explained that "the problem we are experiencing is with the receipt and delivery of containers at the ports." According to the official, what is happening with the movement of cargo has to do with the implementation of a new computer system at the Port of Balboa, which apparently is having problems attending to boats and trains.

Guatemala Sells Railway to Koreans

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Panama: 37.5% Less Freight on Railroads

June 2009

The Panama Canal Railway Company predicts that it will move 37.5% fewer containers this year compared to 2008.

The estimated number of containers for this year is 225,000, compared to 360,000 containers in 2008.

Reporter Raúl A. Beranl interviewed Thomas Kenna, President of the Panama Canal Railway Company (PCRC), for Prensa.com: “The ships are empty, there just isn’t freight to move, the factories in China are closed and the United States is in its worst crisis in 100 years…with the global recession, commercial transportation is one of the most affected sectors of the economy in any country because people stop buying, and when that happens, there isn't freight for ships, ports, trains, or trucks anymore.”

Spanish-Costa Rican consortium proposed reactivation of cargo train

August 2008

The Hispanic-Costa Rican Logistics Group presented a proposal today to the government to restart the cargo train service from the different ports to the Central Valley.

The goal is to have Costa Rica transport at least 50% of its cargo by rail in order to reduce the number of trucks on the highways.

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