Thanks to DEMASA, Repretel and the Banco Nacional, you may ride the train for free every Tuesday and Thursday.  The INCOFER president, Miguel Carabaguíaz, explained that the offer will not cost the institution revenue and will not cost the government anything. "The companies do it in order to stimulate the use of the train as a means of transport." The instution receives 948,000 colones from the sponsor companies, which is the equivalent of 3160 fares @ 300 colones each.  This is the amount of passengers the train could carry at 100% capacity all day long.

Apparently the years of ignoring stop signs and railroad crossing signals have taken their toll on San José’s drivers, who in less than 6 weeks have been hit by the train 5 times.  The most serious accident was last Friday, when a bus driver ignored the signal and was hit by the train, 27 people suffered mild injuries. A taxi driver had the dubious distinction of being at the wheel of the first vehicle to be hit by the train, on its first day of service.  A woman driver has the "honor" of being the first one to hit the train, and 2 other vehicles were only scraped as the train went by.

The engineer, Carlos Valverde, said  "The people are rash, I blow the whistle and they don’t hear it because they are listening to music or talking on the phone. "  Hector Quesada, a taxi driver, said  "The train always has the right of way, the drivers have to stop, but the people take chances."

Although a groundhog isn’t involved, meteorologists claim that a cold front from the north will hold off summer for 2 more weeks.  Monday the country got a taste of summer, but a fast moving mass of polar air arrives today bringing low temperatures, misty rain, and high winds.  Just like at Christmas!