How US$74b in bonds bankrupted Puerto Rico

Washington

SAN Juan's gleaming commuter train seemed like a coup - the kind of big-ticket item many US cities can only dream of.

More than a decade on, the Tren Urbano is a monument to the folly, bloat and abuse that finally bankrupted Puerto Rico. Despite years of planning, it sells only a third of the rides it needs to, and loses roughly US$50 million a year. The cost so far: US$2.25 billion, US$1 billion more than planned.

That, in a nutshell,…