Christmas Eve Derailment in Downtown San José

A San José passenger train derailed onto the oncoming traffic lane on Avenida 2, early Christmas Eve morning.

by Michael Miller

(December 24, 2015)

Christmas Eve Derailment in Downtown San José

A Costa Rican passenger train derailed early Christmas Eve morning. And it happened on one of San José‘s busiest streets.

One of Costa Rica’s Incofer commuter trains ran off the rails at about 6:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. The accident occurred in front of the KFC outlet on Avenida 2 in the Barrio Escalante section of San José.

According to train Brakeman, Carlos Sibata, there were no injuries.

The passenger train derailment happened in front of the KFC outlet on Avenida 2, one of the busiest stretches automobile traffic during the rush hour.

The train was on the connecter line that runs between San José‘s two train Stations, the Atlantic Station and the Pacific Station. Much of this stretch of track runs alongside or down the middle, of the city’s streets.

The derailment happened on a section of the line that literally runs up the center of Avenida 2, the main thoroughfare between Central San José and San Pedro. The train was traveling eastbound, up the hill when the accident happened. It went off the rails and slid into the oncoming westbound traffic lane on Avenida 2.

The passenger train was quickly brought to a stop by the alert crew, after it jumped the tracks.

Fortunately, since it was Christmas Eve morning, there was very light automobile traffic, and no cars were hit. On a more typical business day, this street would have been teeming with cars and buses during the rush-hour traffic.

Mr. Sibata told us that there were only 8 passengers on board the train at the time of the accident, and no one was injured. All the passengers safely got off the train and found other transportation to their destinations.

On a normal business day, this section of Avenida 2 would be bumper-to-bumper with cars and busses. Fortunately, since it was Christmas Eve morning, the auto traffic was very light.

The train was traveling at a very slow speed, as it always does on this section of track, and was quickly brought to a stop by the engineer.

San José is a city of surprises.  Anything can happen, in The Real San José.

Michael Miller is the author of the first and only guide book that focuses on Downtown San José, Costa Rica, titled The Real San José. Paperback copies are available for sale at selected retail outlets in San José.  An electronic version of The Real San José is available at Amazon/Kindle.  To access it, click here.

Your questions and comments are always welcomed. You can contact Michael directly by email: therealsanjose@gmail.com You can see additional stories that Michael has written about Downtown San José at his website:  TheRealSanJose.com