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Panamá Train: Facts at a Glance
Last updated: 2 July 2026
The Panamá–David–Frontera railway is a proposed ~475 km line linking Panamá City to the Costa Rica border. As of July 2026 it is in the study and pre-investment phase — not under construction. This page is a concise, sourced reference: status, route, cost, phase, and what is still uncertain.
Last verified against official sources
2 July 2026 — checked against the Presidencia / Secretaría Nacional del Ferrocarril and primary media reports. We re-verify on each update.
The essentials
- Status
- Study and pre-investment phase — not under construction. On 1 July 2026 President Mulino said the project remains in financial analysis before committing state funds.
- Route
- Panamá Pacífico → Paso Canoas (Costa Rica border), crossing five provinces. Route & stations →
- Length
- ≈ 475 km (full line)
- Stations
- 14 stations named in the May 2025 official announcement
- Design speed
- Passenger express up to 180 km/h; freight up to 100 km/h; Panamá–David in about 3 hours
- Phase 1
- Panamá City (Albrook) → Divisa — the first segment being studied
- Cost (known / unknown)
- No final official figure. Preliminary government estimates cited above US$5 billion; a 2019 CRDC study referenced ~$4.1 billion (not definitive). A final cost is a key study output.
- Committed so far
- Studies and design only — e.g. a US$4.17M AECOM engineering contract; not construction.
- Feasibility studies
- Led by AECOM, Renfe, KPMG, Steer, and WSP; were due June 2026
- Expected first tender
- Panamá City–Capira section, possibly 2027 — conditional on the studies and financing
- Build time (estimate)
- ≈ 7–8 years for the full line (official estimate)
- Lead body
- Secretaría Nacional del Ferrocarril (SNDF), under the Presidencia
- Primary source
- Presidencia — Secretaría del Ferrocarril ↗
What remains uncertain
- Final cost. No approved figure exists for the current scope; it depends on the feasibility and economic-model studies.
- Financing structure. Interest has come from the UK (UKEF), France, Spain, Japan, and others, but no financing has been closed.
- Construction start. "Could begin 2027" is conditional, not confirmed.
- The canal crossing. A railway bridge near the Centenario Bridge is the project's hardest engineering; its design is still under review.
How to use this site
Citizens
Understand the project in plain terms — start with Current Status.
Businesses
Track development along the line — see Opportunities.
Journalists
Verify dates and figures — every claim links to a primary source in the Timeline and Official Sources.
Researchers
Access structured references in the source archive.
Figures on this page are drawn from official announcements and reputable media, and are estimates or proposals unless marked otherwise. Always confirm names, amounts, and dates against the primary source before republishing.