| San Juan-Caguas Rail (Tren Interurbano) (proposed) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Overview | |||
| Owner | Puerto Rico Department of Transportation (DTOP) | ||
| Locale | San Juan Caguas | ||
| Transit type | Light regional railcar | ||
| Number of lines | 1 | ||
| Number of stations | 5 | ||
| Daily ridership | 25,000 (Projected) | ||
| Operation | |||
| Operator(s) | Alternativa de Transporte Integrado (ATI) | ||
| Technical | |||
| System length | 17 miles (27.4 km) | ||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) (standard gauge) | ||
| Top speed | 85 mph (137 km/h) | ||
| |||
The San Juan-Caguas Rail project, named NOVOTRÉN,[1] was a planned rail transit link between the Puerto Rican cities of San Juan and Caguas through a "regional rail network". The plan was announced by the Mayor of Caguas, William Miranda Marín, along with former governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá on March 9, 2007. The agreement signed creates a public-private society between three parties: the central government, the city council and a regional partnership; it entails an investment of $200 million by the central government through the Government Bank of Development (Banco Gubernamental de Fomento in Spanish). The total cost of the project is estimated at between $375 million and $400 million.
The execution of the project would be managed by Mideast Technology Initiative "Tecnológica Centro Oriental" (INTECO),[2] a non-profit organization that groups municipal governments, academic and industrial institutions of the region.
The new line would include two stops in Caguas that connect to the Tren Urbano (Urban Train in English) in San Juan. The mayor of Caguas projected that in first year ridership should be between 10,000 and 15,000 daily, and that it should climb to about 20,000 in a year and a half.
The Puerto Rico Highway & Transportation Authority (PRHTA) has chosen The Innovative Transportation Group (ITG) - formed by French rail and urban transport management and design consultancy Semaly and Ray and locals such as architect Raúl Gayá, a project group which carried out the study, the drafting of enterprise consultation file documents and assistance in the choice of the contract holders.[3][4]
In March 2013, the name of the project was revealed and it is called the NOVOTREN.
The project was canceled in 2017 due to high cost.[5]
- ^ novotren.com A innovative, reliable and sustainable public transport system that will unite Caguas and the Eastern Central Region with the San Juan Metropolitan Area
- ^ intecopr.org
- ^ "San Juan - Caguas Rail Project" (PDF) (Press release). SEMALY. August 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-10-16. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
- ^ bnamericas.com, Study: Caguas-San Juan rail line feasible, accessed September 15, 2009.
- ^ "Caguas-San Juan light commuter train project derailed". News is My Business. 2017-08-16. Retrieved 2023-01-12.