The Executive Branch began to chart its priorities for the month of December in Congress and the $550 million loan for the development of the Fast Passenger Train (TRP), known as the electric train will have a special priority.
From December 1st until April 30th, extraordinary sessions will take place in the Legislative Assembly; in this period the Presidential House will define the agenda of projects discussed by legislators both in commissions and in the Plenary. In this context, the credit for the electric train will have a priority space within the project agenda that the Executive Power will convene.
The loan was granted to the country by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). The Minister of the Presidency, Víctor Morales Mora, said that at the moment, the government is concluding the preparation of the loan to send it to Congress.
This is the largest credit that this multilateral bank has granted to a country. It has a repayment term of 25 years, with five years of grace, and a weighted interest rate that would not exceed 1.55% per year.
The ambitious project to modernize the railroad covers 73 kilometers between Paraíso de Cartago and Ciruelas de Alajuela, linking 15 cantons of four provinces in the center of the country.
According to Elizabeth Briceño, executive president of Incofer, the feasibility study to begin the international public bidding process would be completed by March next year and the process would be opened 3 months later. In parallel, economic, financial and structuring studies of the project are carried out under the modality of concession of public works with public service.
According to preliminary estimates, the electric train will allow a substantial reduction in travel times in the GAM.