President Mulino announces the route and the location of the future stations

The government officially set the alignment from Panamá Pacífico to Paso Canoas on the Costa Rican border, naming all 14 stations. Express passenger service is designed for up to 180 km/h, freight for 100 km/h, with a Panamá–David trip near three hours.

Background & context

This announcement is the project's true starting gun, the point at which an idea became a specific, nameable route with 14 stations, and every later study, tender, and financing conversation refers back to this alignment. The design targets given here are ambitious by regional standards and have not been revised downward in any subsequent official statement through mid-2026.

Fixing the route on paper is the easy part of a railway; what follows this announcement in the timeline, surveys, environmental studies, property registries , is where the alignment gets tested against the actual cost of building it.