Having separate infrastructure for freight and passenger trains that the Mexican government is seeking to integrate ensures that the capacity of both systems is not limited, according to railway and infrastructure specialists.
Iker de Luisa, general director of the Mexican Railway Association (AMF) , explained that the passenger train will require several frequencies and by having an operation either in the morning or afternoon, there will not be the necessary influx for this type of transport.
“There are buses, for example, Mexico-Querétaro, with one line every 15 minutes, but if different origins arrive from all the lines, maybe there is a bus every five minutes, so how do you compete with one frequency against another that has 50, that is a bit of the point and it is not so easy to compete in price, quality, service and location,” he explained.
In this regard, he mentioned, for example, the Buenavista-Cuautitlán suburban line, which shares the right of way while maintaining separate operations for cargo and passengers.
“More than 60 freight trains coexist daily with passenger frequencies of every six minutes in each direction. It is a solution in which there are different right-of-way for freight and passengers given the high flows of both systems,” he said.
In addition, in the case of the expansion of this transport to the Mexico City International Airport (AIFA) , he commented that alternative projects were established that strengthened the freight railroad, such as relocating a yard and building the track for the passenger train.
Juan Carlos Miranda, coordinator of the Railway Subcommittee of the Transportation Committee of the College of Civil Engineers of Mexico (CICM) , considered that the railway routes announced during the current administration, Mexico-Monterrey-Laredo, Mexico-Guadalajara, Mexico-Pachuca, ” are lines with high traffic potential; it is very positive that it was decided to separate the freight infrastructure from the passenger infrastructure.”
However, he commented that both systems have different characteristics and systems that require different infrastructure and operation.
Regarding the Mexico-Veracruz train, where the same tracks may be used, it is “very important that it be analyzed very carefully,” since it has many operational challenges because there are about 30 freight trains running daily, it is very complex.”
He also pointed out that all projects must comply with environmental and social impact studies, right-of-way release, technology to be developed, routes, accessibility, planning, compatibility, regulations, among others.
Iker de Luisa mentioned that so far they do not have information on the plan or tenders for passenger train projects for the current administration.
“We have no information on how the tenders will be carried out. So far, they are announcements, we have not seen a plan that we can analyse and somehow get involved and give an opinion,” he confirmed.
During his participation in Dialogues with Engineers organized by the CICM, he mentioned that these will occur as these works progress.
However, he highlighted the more than 150 billion pesos that have been announced for these projects, and considered that the almost 1.6 billion pesos that the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SICT) requested for the pre-investment studies belong to these resources.
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