Various INCOFER routes suspended after two trains collide head on

The Costa Rican Railroad Institute (INCOFER) announced in the wee hours of Tuesday morning that all train service between Heredia, Alajuela and San José is cancelled today due to last night’s head-on collision between two trains on the Heredia line.

Teletica (Channel 7) TV News reported that approximately 100 passengers were hospitalized for their injuries. Nearly 400 people were traveling on the two trains, which collided in Santa Rosa de Santo Domingo de Heredia, north of San José, at 6:02 pm.

The Tren Urbano, which crosses San José from west to east and connects the capital with Heredia, Alajuela and Cartago, is generally jam-packed at rush hour, with people standing in the aisles or even standing on the entry stairs. This results in a multiplying effect when collisions take place, since passengers who might otherwise have been unhurt sustain injuries when they fall into each other.

This is the third collision between INCOFER trains in the past 18 months. One took place on April 18, 2016, in southern Sabana, with 106 injured passengers; another took place Oct. 2 of this year in Pavas, with seven injuries.