Costa Rica road and rail upgrades aim to cut travel times by 50% for nomads

What’s changing on Costa Rica’s main transit routes

Costa Rica has approved financing for a $770 million upgrade of the San José-San Ramón highway and is moving ahead with a separately financed electric passenger train for the Greater Metropolitan Area. The road project covers about 55 to 56 km on Route 1, with wider lanes, new and repaired bridges, toll stations, bus bays, lighting and signals. Officials say the work is meant to ease long-running congestion on one of the country’s busiest corridors.

The train plan calls for about 50 to 51 km of electrified double-track rail linking Paraíso de Cartago, San José and Alajuela. It’s backed by international lenders, including the European Investment Bank and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration and sits under Costa Rica’s broader mobility push in the Central Valley.

Why nomads, expats and travelers should care

The highway connects San José with Juan Santamaría International Airport and the western Central Valley, where many expats and digital nomads live, work and commute. Government-backed reports say the upgrade could cut travel times on the San Ramón route by about 50%, though construction will bring its own delays before any relief shows up.

Tourists also use this corridor to move between the capital, Alajuela and popular destinations farther west. The electric train won’t solve that now, but it could change daily movement across the GAM once financing, procurement and construction are finished. Read our full nomad news for the latest regional updates.

What to watch next

The highway loan was signed in April 2026, but the bidding process still has to move forward before major construction starts. Reporting in Costa Rica says a tender could be published within months, with work lasting roughly 24 to 30 months once it begins. Expropriations along the corridor could slow the schedule.

The train is on a longer clock. Officials have said service could start about five years after financial close and procurement, so the near-term impact is mostly on planning, traffic and disruption rather than smoother rides.

Read our full Costa Rica guide for the complete picture.