Published Wednesday, May 12, 2021

The Railroad Institute announced progress in the construction of a new train station in Moín Canton, Limón Province.

According to the institute, an agreement signed with the Ministry of Transport will allow the use of land, owned by the ministry, which is located near the Container Station in Moín Canton, to enable a train station that transports cargo to the port.

The station will improve the current operation of the gasoline and diesel trains and in the future the expected operation of the first Electric Cargo Train.

Currently the institute, through the operations center in Limón, maintains a cargo diesel and gasoline train route, transporting steel ingots, from Moín to Pococí.

The Electric Train would be used to transport merchandise to export from the Moín Port to different destinations in the country.


However, the Electric Train is still in the planning process. Currently, the institute is continuing the construction of 155 miles (about 250 kilometers) of the railroad track. One section of the road is located in Limón while another segment is in San Carlos Canton.

In addition to the construction of the railroad, the institute is in the process of building the maintenance area for the containers, the garages, an electric station, among others.

The Electric Train plan, which is budgeted at $550 million, is expected to be financed with a loan from the  Central American Bank for Economic Integration, CABEI.

Currently, the Electric Train plan is still in the study phase. The government has the goal of including the Electric Train, as part of its 2020 National Decarbonization Plan.

In September 2020, the institute signed an agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank, IADB, for the development of technical analysis of the electric train project.

For the development of the first electric train, Congress is analyzing a new government loan with CABEI, for $550 million.

According to data provided by the government, the loan with CABEI is for a term of 25 years and has no commitment fee, which means that the government will not incur costs for having the money saved and unused during the process of hiring a company in charge of the train.

The government has a plan to obtain a counterpart for $1billion in foreign investment since this is a concession project.

A “concession” or “concession agreement” is a grant of rights, land or property by a government to a corporation or individual to develop a project.

This agreement signed with IADB is non-reimbursable, to carry out an analysis of the train's plan, the institute said in its statement.

According to First Lady Claudia Dobles, who is the promoter of the electric train project, this agreement with the IADB will allow an independent technical review to lower costs and reduce the investment of the project.

“The technical team of the IADB made up of 10 experts, among them railway specialists, in infrastructure, finance, economic evaluation, legal management and environmental management, with experience in railway projects in cities such as Bogotá, Quito, Lima and Panama, and many of them with experience in mass public transportation of people in almost all Latin American countries," Dobles said.

The institute expects to receive the document with the bank's recommendations. This document will be included in the project that will be submitted to a public tender to contract the company in charge of developing the electric train.

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