Panama
Panama exists, in the modern imagination, because of a ditch. But the railway came first. In 1855 — fourteen years before the Americans finished their own transcontinental line, and sixty before the canal opened — a train ran the whole width of the isthmus, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in a few hours. For a decade it was the fastest link between the two coasts of North America, and the gold of California came home along it.
It cost somewhere between five and ten thousand lives; nobody counted. The line survives, rebuilt in 2001 as a container railway with a single daily passenger train of glass-roofed dome cars that runs beside the canal, over the causeways of Gatún Lake and through the rainforest. And in the capital there is now a second railway: Central America's first and only metro, whose next line will pass in a tunnel underneath the canal itself.
Rail journeys in Panama
The Panama Metro
Central America's first and only metro — two lines, 33 stations, and a third whose tunnel under the Panama Canal was finished in February 2026.
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The Panama Canal Railway
Ocean to ocean in an hour, on the railway that beat the Panama Canal by sixty years — seventy-six kilometres of rainforest, causeway and container ship.
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What are Panama's best rail journeys?
Two, and they are a century and a half apart. The Panama Canal Railway crosses the isthmus from the Pacific to the Atlantic in about an hour, running alongside the canal, past the locks and out over the causeways of Gatún Lake in restored dome cars with open outdoor platforms. The Panama Metro is the first and only underground railway in Central America — two lines and 33 stations, with a third under construction that will run in a tunnel beneath the canal.
Is Panama easy to explore by train?
No — and it is important to be clear about that. Panama has one intercity railway, and it runs one passenger train each way. There is no national network: the old Chiriquí line in the west is long gone, and everywhere beyond the canal corridor is reached by road, boat or a short flight. What Panama has instead is one exceptional railway journey and one good metro, both within an hour of the capital.
How do I book the Panama Canal Railway?
Directly, and in advance. The railway publishes neither a timetable nor a fare table on its website, and third-party reports of both conflict — the commuter working and the cruise excursion run at quite different times. Email info@panarail.com or telephone (507) 317-6070 to confirm the departure and the price for your date, or ask your hotel in Panama City to arrange it. The metro needs no booking at all: buy a rechargeable card at any station.
When is the best time to visit Panama by train?
December to April is the dry season and the most comfortable time to travel, though "dry" is relative and it is hot and humid all year. The rest of the year brings heavy afternoon downpours — which do not stop the trains, and arguably suit the rainforest stretch of the canal crossing rather well. The passenger train runs on weekdays only, so check the day of the week before building a trip around it.