The Panama Canal Railway runs the length of the Canal from Panama City to Colon. I was lucky enough to ride this hundred and twelve year old railway on a busy Tuesday morning. Although many tour operators offer Canal Railway packages, often these are overpriced and unnecessary. The train leaves Panama City from the Allbrook Train station every day at 7.15am and leaves Colon for the return trip at 5.15pm. The cost for an adult is $22 one way, for children 2-12 it is $11 and for seniors it costs $15. In my opinion, if you're in Panama and want to see the Canal in a way that most people never will, take the train!

We took a short cab ride from our hotel on the Amador Causeway to the Allbrook station and got on the train. I was surprised by the amount of commuters who live in Panama City and take the train to work in Colon. Talking with a few of them, it seemed that most are traders who do business in the booming Free Zone, the largest duty free zone in the world. At 7.15am exactly, the whistle blew and we were on our way.

The train is modern with five luxurious passenger cars, each named after a river in Panama. We were lucky enough to sit on the Rio Gatun car, the railway company did its best to put the tourist on their own car near the front. We spent most of the time on a balcony at the back of our car which gave us the best views in the house. There is also a Dome Car that has been converted into a snack bar, by the time we found it, it was full of commuters eating their breakfast, having their morning coffee and catching up on the news.

The tracks run for 50 miles, the width of the Isthmus of Panama and remain on the Eastern side of the canal the entire time. The first land mark you pass is the Miraflores Locks. Although impossible to view the actual locks and gates, you can see the massive ships rising in the locks as you whisk past. You pass the second set of locks and the Centennial Bridge before plunging into the dense rainforest. The trip is only an hour long, compared to an hour and a half by car or 8 hours by boat.

The train crosses fingers of the canal twice and the bridges give you a glimpse at how massive Lake Gatun and the Canal really are. Stretching for miles, the waterway twists and turns through valleys flooded a hundred years ago by dams that make the land traverse possible. You are in direct view of the canal for about 70% of the trip and see plenty of large ships making the passage. There are also many smaller sailboats, fishing boats and private yachts that travel through the canal.

As you near Colon, you can see the final set of locks before the Caribbean and then you are in the train station in Colon. The trip is a must do for anyone interested in seeing the canal from a point of view often missed by Panama City Tourists. We ended up staying in Portobello on the Caribbean coast that night and driving back the next day, so we didn't get to see the Canal by train at night, but this is a highly recommended trip and one that I suggest anyone who visits Panama should do.