The shipping and delivery dates for the two batches of new trains acquired from China have already been established. The first will be shipped on October 15th and will arrive in the country the fourth week of November, while the second batch will be shipped on December 15th and will be on national soil in January 2021.
This was announced by the Costa Rican Railways Institute (INCOFER), specifying that both lots are made up of four trains each, which means that four trains will be received first in November and not two as originally planned.
Although the arrival of these two units was expected in September, the global emergency due to the Coronavirus Pandemic has forced to adjust the delivery dates of important components of these trains, such as the engines, which have parts that were manufactured in Germany and Italy, countries that have been severely affected by COVID-19. As of today, the Factory is working on the installation stage of the motors of the units of lot one, which already shows a high percentage of progress.
Elizabeth Briceño, Executive President of INCOFER, highlighted that “the situation that exists in the world has forced us to have to rethink the arrival dates not only of the trains but also of the arrival of the experts from the CRRC Company for activities related to the commissioning of the equipment, due to the closure of borders”.
She noted that with these established shipping dates, the working groups in Costa Rica carry out the preparatory steps for the training and conditioning of the workshop to receive the equipment.
Briceño mentioned that, as part of these preparatory activities, “more than 10 km of railway lines have been intervened, performing preventive and corrective maintenance. Likewise, work has been carried out on various bridges, such as El Fierro, Taras, Quebrada Rivera, and Quebrada Seca “. INCOFER estimates that these 8 train units will be in operation in the GAM, in the second quarter of 2021.
With the latest technology, each of these trains has a length of 38 m and a capacity of 372 passengers. They will be made up of two D.M.U “Diesel Multiple Units” each. The company contracted is manufacturing the trains according to the technical specifications defined by INCOFER. The purchase also includes equipment for the workshop, maintenance, training, after-sales service, and spare parts.
