Due to the month-and-a-half closure that will take place from January 21st over Virilla river, authorities created a plan to avoid road chaos.
The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) trusts buses and the train to mitigate the effects of the closure. For that reason, it authorized trains and buses special services from January 21st.
The Public Transport Council (CTP) authorized a complementary service that will offer direct trips from Plaza Ferias in Alajuela and the former Station Wagon terminal in San José. Tuasa company will be in charge of the service coordination and it aims to avoid the entry of as many vehicles as possible to the capital.
According to Neftalí Cubillo, from Tuasa, it’s a special executive-type service. The idea is that people who travel to San José have a parking lot in Alajuela, where they can leave the vehicle and take a comfortable bus with air conditioning and charging devices for the phone. That bus will take them to San José and return them to collect their vehicles.
In addition, the CTP will allow western, bus companies to offer direct travel and increase the frequency and number of units.
Drivers who prefer to travel by train can leave their vehicles at Pedregal Center, take the train to San José and pick up the vehicle at night. The parking lot has a capacity for 3,000 vehicles.
Christian Vargar, CEO of INCOFER, stated that it is not a problem for the service, because the route is already established. The institution has launched a pilot plan to mitigate the traffic jams since November 2016. Since then, the train has been running most of the day on the Alajuela-Heredia-San José and San Antonio de Belén-San José routes.
The train offers 79 trips from Monday through Friday, from 5:30 am to 8:30 pm, and 38 trips on Saturdays from 5:30 am to 3 pm.
The service prices will be announced next week.