Where You Can Travel in Puerto Rico With Tren Urbano

The history of trains in Puerto Rico

The history of trains in Puerto Rico is a long and, ultimately, unfortunate one. As far back as the 19th century, Puerto Rico had rail travel with a horse-drawn passenger system and then a tramway in the early 20th century.

Then in the 20th century, when the sugar cane industry took off, the national railroad system in Puerto Rico did the same as a direct result. The system flourished for years until a terrible train crash resulted in the tragedy of multiple deaths and injuries in 1944.

This coupled with the rise of other forms of public transportation as well as automobile ownership caused the railroad to go bankrupt and finally cease passenger travel in 1953. Freight service primarily ended just a few years after that.

Rail transit did not officially return to Puerto Rico until 2004. Although discussion about it had been on-going for years resulting in the allowance of permits for Tren Urbano in the late 90’s.

After nearly a decade of constructing the first phase of the system took place, Tren Urbano debuted in 2004.

When the train first debuted, the service was free in order to build popularity and general use. Then, in 2005 the paid service started. As the popularity and use of Tren Urbano grew, plans were made to expand the system, however those plans fell apart in more recent years and there are not any other plans to expand the system in place at the moment.
 

Tren Urbano’s route

Tren Urbano’s route only spans a distance of a little over ten miles. However, it is a part of a much larger network of public transportation in the San Juan Metropolitan Area which also includes busses, ferries, taxis and shuttles. With the combination of all this public transportation, you can travel between Bayamón, Carolina, Cataño, Guaynabo and Trujillo Alto with relative ease.

These are the current stops on the Tren Urbano route:

• Sagrado Corazón
• Hato Rey
• Roosevelt
• Domenech
• Piñero
• Universidad
• Río Piedras
• Cupey
• Centro Médico
• San Francisco
• Las Lomas
• Martínez Nadal
• Torrimar
• Jardines
• Deportivo
• Bayamón

 
Some of the stops on the route have a bunch of parking spaces available. Those stops and their respective parking availability is as follows:

• Sagrado Corazón has three hundred and sixty parking spaces
• San Francisco has five hundred and thirty-five parking spaces
• Martínez Nadal has twelve hundred parking spaces
• Torrimar has forty-five parking spaces
• Jardines has a hundred and twenty-eight parking spaces
• Bayamón has four hundred parking spaces

Additional information about Tren Urbano

Information regarding routes and schedules for Tren Urbano can be found here.

As it is a subway, the trains run pretty frequently and close to schedule. Most stops have trains arrive every few minutes. Most trips on Tren Urbano take less than two minutes, however, some can take up to half an hour.

However, there are no trains from 11:30 PM until 5:30 AM. There are also no trains for the entire day on January 1st, January 6th, Presidents’ Day, March 22nd, Good Friday, Memorial Day, July 4th, July 25, Labor Day, October 12th, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Fares are very reasonable and only cost $1.50 for a regular adult. Seniors from 65 to 74 years of age, students, and people with disabilities only need to pay 75¢ per trip. Those who are 6 years old and younger as well as those 75 years old and older can ride for free.

Finally, you can buy tickets at any of the stations with cash, credit or debit. Free transfers to buses are also available at the stations.
 

Conclusion

Tren Urbano only services a small portion of San Juan but it can be used in conjunction with the larger public transportation system in Puerto Rico to get around. Plans to expand Tren Urbano have unfortunately fallen through in recent years.

Having your own car will always be the most convenient option for getting from place to place in Puerto Rico. So, if you do not have your car there currently, we suggest you have it shipped there.