Tren Urbano is a rail system in Puerto Rico that will connect the areas of San Juan, Bayamon, Guaynabo and Carolina. Tren Urbano will be Puerto Rico's second working passenger train, after construction is finished in 2003. The other one, located at El Parque del tren, in Bayamon, is a cowboy times style of train used for public amusement and was inaugurated in 1980.
History
In 1989, the Department of Transportation and Public Works of Puerto Rico developed a plan to construct a rail system that could be economically viable for public use. At the time, Rafael Hernández Colón was Governor of Puerto Rico.
Tren Urbanos project was left at the planning tables until 1994, when Pedro Rosselló was Governor. Rosselló's administration approved a 1.25 billion dollar budget for the project. The Siemens Company was awarded the contract for the whole project to be completed, and in 1996, phase one of the project, the one that is currently operating, began to be built. Siemens brought over several smaller companies to help in the construction.
Completion of the train would take long and people became impatient. Many wondered if the train would ever be completed, or if it would turn out to be another project left half done. The project also caused much public controversy: Many expressed their worries that 1.25 billion dollars had been put into something that, in their opinion, might have never been completed, while other areas such as health, police and education, (in their opinions also) lagged behind.
The fact that, under Sila María Calderón's government the train took two extra years to be completed didn't help the public's opinion about the project much either: plans had been made to inaugurate the system in 2001.
The train will be finally inaugurated late in 2003, to serve the aforementioned areas initially, with alternative stops at places such as the Universidad de Puerto Rico and the Centro Medico hospital. Eventual plans to expand include stations at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport and Caguas.
