The Central American Bank for Economic Integration will execute a non-reimbursable Technical Cooperation to carry out studies to identify the feasibility of developing the railway network of Line 5 of the Panama Subway.
The non-reimbursable Technical Cooperation amounts to $630,000 and was recently approved by the Republic of Korea within the framework of the CABEI-Korea Sole Donor Trust Fund (KTF), according to an official statement.
A tender was announced to execute the studies that will be used to determine the feasibility of the development of the railroad network for cargo and passengers, included in the Pacific Train Project.
In a press conference, the Autonomous Executive Port Commission (Cepa) informed that through the technical cooperation in the bidding process, an analysis of the demand for rail service for cargo and passengers within the country will be carried out, and recommendations will be provided regarding the use of technologies and optimal alternatives for an efficient rail network and the appropriate systems to connect identified segments within the country.
To cover the demand projected by the transport sector for the 2016-2030 period, around 2.2% of GDP should be invested in infrastructure, but Central American countries allocate, on average, 1.8% of GDP.
According to the study "Achievements and Challenges of Central American Integration: ECLAC Contributions", between 2008 and 2015 Panama was the country that reported the highest average investment during the period in transport infrastructure with 3.68% of its GDP, followed by Honduras with 2.21% and Nicaragua with 1.99%.
A proposal has been made to build an elevated monorail metro system, which would use three circuits with a 40 kilometers lenght to connect the city from La Sabana to Curridabat.
The consulting firm Monorrieles de Costa Rica, S.A. presented the project, which consists of developing an integral public transport system in the metropolitan area of Costa Rica, for which they would build an Elevated Monorail Metro, which would function as a collector-disperser transit system.
The government of Costa Rica wants to develop the project with the help of a private partner, who would contribute $1.3 billion for construction, among other things, of the new railway, wiring, tunnels and monitoring systems.
The project to build a rapid train service connecting Alajuela to Cartago, and which would fix the transportation problem affecting the Greater Metropolitan Area, requires a total investment of close to $2 billion, of which $1.3 billion would have to be contributed by a private company, through means of a concession for both the construction and operation of the line.
The electric train planned for development in Costa Rica would cover a length of 80 kilometers of track, and the physical infrastructure of the project alone would have an estimated cost of $1.353 million.
At the end of December 2017 the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles presented an Environmental Impact Study (EIA) to build an electric train transport system in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM).
The Chinese government has confirmed that it will finance a feasibility study to build a freight and passenger train connecting the Panamanian capital with the border of Costa Rica.
Through the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, financing will be provided for analysis on the feasibility, benefits, main technical parameters, estimated investment, risk factors, and other components for a railway system that will connect the provinces of Panama and Chiriqui.
With $40 million from the state insurer, the Costa Rican Railway Institute could bring back into issue the railway line from Río Frío de Sarapiquí to the port of Limón.
Although the efficiency in the planning and execution of projects is not something that Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles is famous for, the initiative to restore the railroad and reimplement the container transport service from the port of Limón to Río Frio could, if it finally materializes, help improve the damaged reputation of the state run railway company.
It has been announced that the company China Railway Company is studying whether it would be feasible to reactivate a passenger train service between San Salvador and the area of Sitio del Niño, in the municipality of San Juan Opico.
Authorities at the Executive Port Commission (CEPA) explained that the studies that were started during the previous administration with the Spanish company Tramrail have not been completed, and now it is the company China Railway Company which is analyzing the feasibility of the project.
Although the funds are not yet available, nor is there legislative authority to borrow, the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles has announced that it intends to acquire 8 trains.
An article on Crhoy reports that "...Guillermo Santana, CEO of Incofer, said the new units will have to comply with national railway infrastructure conditions, for which reason the rolling stock must be modified by the manufacturer and will take longer to arrive. "
Three years after the first attempt, the government has announced that the railway project estimated at $200 million will be tendered in 2017 under a public-private partnership scheme.
In 2013 the National Agency for Partnerships for Economic Infrastructure Development (ANADIE) had tried to tender the design and construction of an urban passenger train and a railway terminal, however, it never materialized. Now the government of President Jimmy Morales has taken up the project under the same scheme of a public-private partnership, only evaluating the work at $200 million and not $350 million as projected previously. Diario de Centroamerica reported that the initiative will be presented to Congress.
Although the start date had been was agreed as December 2015, it has now been announced that construction of the roads that connect will Tecun Uman with Chiapas, Mexico, will start in April.
The government plans to analyze the feasibility of building a light rail line which would connect line 3 with other provinces, in a first stage to Penonomé, a second to Santiago and a third to David, Chiriqui.
In a statement on Presidencia.gob.pa, it is indicated that "... along with the construction of Metro Line 3 to the sector of West Panama, the administration has scheduled the feasibility studies necessary for the construction of a Light Rail line to connect Line 3 with the rest of the country, through a first tranche to Penonomé, a second to Santiago and a third stretch to David, Chiriqui.
It has been announced that as of December 15th the Tecún Uman San Marcos line will connect with the mexican Compañía de Ferrocarriles Chiapas-Mayab in order to transport cargo from Guatemala.
The Mexican train known as "The Beast", will enter onto Guatemalan soil through Tecún Uman, where it will receive cargo to be transported from Central America to Mexico and the United States.
Free parking in Panama and heavy trains running through the streets of the capital of Costa Rica, are examples of some of the strange decisions taken by their governments.
EDITORIAL
While the rest of the world discourages the use of private cars as a means of transportation, increasing the costs of their use by setting, among other methods, high costs for parking in urban areas, in Panama, whose capital city suffers like any other city from the growing problems of congestion on the roads, the National Assembly recently passed a law that mandates free parking in "commercial parking lots of any kind or public offices where purchases are made, goods acquired or any services received. "