The First Lady of Costa Rica, Claudia Dobles, held meetings throughout last week with groups in charge of the construction of metropolitan rapid transit systems in other Latin American countries.

The purpose of these meetings is to learn from the different experiences in countries such as the cities of Medellin and Bogota in Colombia and in Panama.

In the meetings, Dobles, an architect, inquired about the details of the contracts, costs, setbacks, etc. with the idea of starting in three month time the stage to award the feasibility of the fast passenger train in Costa Rica.

“We received the visit of the representatives of the Panama Meter, my interest is knowing about the lessons learned during their process both in the line 1 and in line 2 which is about to kick off. It was a very beneficial meeting, that was coordinated by the Costa Rica Construction Board, who I thank for the support”, said Dobles.

The government expects that by February 2019, everything will be ready to start the tender process for the construction of the project.

The next few months will determine the model that the government will use to make the project a reality. The goal is to have the first stage of the fast passenger train awarded and in process before the end of Alvarado’s Governmet, the estimated cost for the first stage alone is of $600 million USD, while the total investment is calculed in close to $1,300 million USD.

Dobles also met on Friday with the Committee that is leading the Development of the Electronic Pay System Project for public transportation (buses and trains).