Costa Rica
Railroads in Costa Rica are managed by state owned Incofer - Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles, and are of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge (the same as Honduras and Nicaragua). They operate suburban trains around San José and freight trains to the Pacific port of Caldera (outside Puntarenas). A private company, America Travel, organizes weekly tourist trains from San José to Caldera. Additionally, a 3.5 km long tourist "Swiss mountain railroad" with two tunnels runs on the premises of Hotel Los Héroes in Tilarán, Guanacaste Province.
The first railroad in Costa Rica was opened in 1873, running between San José and Alajuela. In 1890, it reached the Atlantic coast in Puerto Limón. Construction of a Pacific railroad started in 1897 with the first train reaching Puntarenas in 1910. In 1926, a decision was made to electrify the lines; the first electric train reached Puntarenas in 1930.
The railroad network was damaged during an earthquake in 1991 and operation suspended in 1995. After 2000, the state railroad authority (Incofer) works to resume and popularize rail transport again.
As of 2004, the denominated "Tren Interurbano" was reestablished to run services between neighboring cities Heredia and San José (due to the conurbation phenomenon, both cities and in minor extent Alajuela and Cartago, became part of one same urban area known as GAM, Gran Area Metropolitana, Great Metropolitan Area) as well as between Pavas and San Pedro neighborhoods in San José. New Apolo engines imported from Spain should start servicing the route San José - Heredia, several times a day, by the end of April 2009. This transport alternative has received relative widespread acceptance from citizens in GAM to the point that the Government will bid (third quarter, 2009) for the construction and operation of a modern system to operate between Heredia - San José, and San Pedro - Sabana Sur on an initial stage. So far, more than six international companies, specially European, have expressed their interest on the project. Recently a company in Brazil was committed to evaluate the viability of the project and the results were very satisfactory. The Government will provide part of the money needed (based on already existing funds) and the concessionary the rest. The service should be running by 2013.
Read more about this topic: Rail Transport In Central America