The 11th crash against the train was recorded on Wednesday in downtown San José.
Although this is an every-day matter, María Fernanda Arias, spokeswoman for the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (INCOFER), explained that they do not have a statistic for lost time, canceled trips, or for any necessary intervention for the units or the railway line.
The woman added that these incidents usually do not cause significant material losses.
Most accidents on the train are minor and do not represent damage to our equipment, only delays in our services. When it comes to accidents with heavy vehicles, the equipment is very affected, it can usually spend up to a week in the workshop to be repaired, in some cases we must also make interventions on the railway if the trains have been derailed as a result of the accidents,”
said the spokeswoman.
Although there is no data on the losses generated by train crashes, as a reference point, there is a 2015 Research Programme on Sustainable Urban Development (ProDUS) of the University of Costa Rica (UCR), which showed that between 2010 and 2012, the direct costs of road crashes of light vehicles amounted to 55 billion colones per year, which was equivalent to 2.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Renato Guadamuz, ProDUS researcher, said that in 2014 they conducted a study that revealed 14 crossings, intersections or dangerous areas, contributing to collisions with the locomotive.
The 5 most dangerous areas are:
1. The intersection in Circunvalación, in San Pedro, near Taco Bell.
2. The intersection in The Mayoreo Market in La Sabana.
3. In Metalco, Colina de Tibás.
4. The intersection of Pirro in Heredia
5. The intersection at the exit of the Atlantic Station.