transportation

Road construction a boon to railroad

The Panama Canal Railway Company has seen a dramatic increase in its passenger service since November.

ANA RENTERÍA/LA PRENSA

full house: There have been few empty seats on the PCRR since November.976335

The Panama Canal Railway Company is reporting that more people than ever are riding the rails between Panama City and Colón, so much so that some passengers have to be turned away.

The train has a capacity of 325 people, and normally there are about 260 people on each train. But since work started on the highway between the two cities in November, the train has been much busier, often operating at capacity.

This has meant that some ticket holders have been turned away, as seats are available on a first come, first serve basis.

Thomas Kenna, the railroad's marketing director, said there have been some complaints by people who were denied a seat.

"You can buy a ticket days in advance, but that does not guarantee you a seat," Kenna said.

He advised frequent travelers to buy a monthly pass, which reserves a seat on the train, instead of individual tickets.

The railway didn't expect the sudden influx of passengers, and is planning to reconfigure the passenger cars to add 20 more seats.

While there has been talk of adding more passenger cars to the railroad’s fleet, Kenna said that such an expansion has been pretty much ruled out. This is because passenger traffic is expected to drop once the road construction is finished and tourist season comes to an end.

However, Kenna said that the railroad thinks traffic will remain higher than it was before the road construction project started.