Following the derailment of one of its trains in Sonora on July 25, Ferromex reported that the incident was caused by a landslide, which resulted in no injuries. The company also stated that the cleanup of the spilled chemical and the restoration of rail service have been completed .

The company stated that through the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) and the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) it has been specified that the incident did not represent an immediate risk to the population , although various studies are being carried out to learn about some of the probable impacts.

“The spilled materials have been collected, aerial monitoring showed no evidence of a widespread spill in the area, and laboratory studies and soil sampling are currently being carried out in the area they have delimited so that they can later offer their final conclusions. Ferromex is implementing the immediate actions and measures indicated by Semarnat and Profepa,” he explained.

Ferromex stated that train service was restored last Wednesday, July 29 , and that the removal of the units from the incident area is nearing completion.

It should be remembered that the incident occurred in the vicinity of the Cuauhtémoc ejido, 20 kilometers from the municipality of Naco, Sonora, in an unpopulated area.

Similarly, Ferromex stated that the incident was caused by a landslide at the ends of a culvert as a result of excessive water accumulation from heavy rains in the region, which weakened the structure of the track, without there being any injured or affected persons nor official record of health consequences related to this event, “as has been falsely mentioned.”

“From the very first moment, the company’s security and civil protection protocols were activated, and the corresponding authorities at different levels of government were notified,” he emphasized.

The event caused a runoff of sodium hydrosulfide and a spill of copper concentrate, so company personnel immediately went to the area and, with the support of municipal, state and federal authorities, carried out work to contain the leak and collect the spilled materials.

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El cargo Ferromex clarifies that the derailment in Sonora was due to a landslide. apareció primero en T21.

In the early morning of July 26, in the vicinity of Rancho Potrero El Cobre, in the ejido Cuauhtémoc, municipality of Naco, Sonora, a derailment of several units of a Ferromex train was recorded, causing the spill of sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS).

Therefore, the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) announced that it is addressing the environmental emergency resulting from the spill of approximately 59,000 liters of said chemical .

“The Attorney General’s Office is conducting inspections and assessments to determine the environmental impact. Following the accident report, personnel from the State Civil Protection Coordination went to the site, where emergency responders and representatives from the companies involved were already present. During the initial inspection, it was confirmed that no one was injured as a result of the derailment,” he said.

He specified that as part of the contingency response, Conagua carried out monitoring and sampling of water and soil to identify possible environmental impacts , while authorities from all three levels of government maintain coordination of response and investigation actions.

However, Profepa personnel are on site to strengthen the technical work of inspection , surveillance and environmental assessment resulting from the spill of the hazardous material.

Preliminary reports indicate that the spill does not pose an immediate risk to the population. However, inspection procedures will continue to determine the extent of the environmental damage and, if necessary, order urgent measures and initiate appropriate legal and administrative actions in accordance with current environmental legislation.

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Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) reported that they submitted new information requested by the Land Transportation Board (STB ) regarding customer protection; however , the authority requested that the companies make certain employee data public.

The STB clarified that on May 28th it suspended the UP-NS merger process pending a new order and requested additional information from the applicants. In that decision, the Board stated that the suspension did not affect the discovery phase.

He explained that on July 2 , several unions filed a joint motion asking him to order the companies to reclassify as “public” the employee impact annexes included in the appendices of the revised application, arguing that they had improperly designated the information as “highly confidential.”

These annexes provide detailed information on how the proposed merger would affect UP and NS trades and management employees , including the number of posts that would be abolished, created, or designated as transferred due to the proposed merger, and the post transfer locations for certain posts.

“In its decision, the Board granted the unions’ motion, concluding that this type of information has been publicly disclosed in prior proceedings and does not appear to be commercially or competitively sensitive. Applicants must reclassify the employee impact annexes as public and submit those documents to the Board by July 27. It also notes its commitment to ensuring that its proceedings remain open to meaningful participation from all interested parties, and applicants may take this opportunity to address, as appropriate, any concerns about public participation as part of their supplemental responses,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, UP stated that it offered better customer protections than any previous rail merger. The new commitments are provided along with the additional information requested by the STB.

“The merger will provide our customers with faster, more reliable, and more efficient coast-to-coast service from day one and will generate savings that will be passed on to consumers. We speak with our customers every day, and by listening to them and reviewing STB feedback, we saw opportunities to offer additional assurances through an unprecedented set of voluntary commitments to our customers,” said Jim Vena, CEO of UP.

Among the new commitments are new competitive opportunities. The combined rail will significantly expand the Gateside Price Commitment (GPC), doubling the number of eligible shipments and extending the benefits to rail bulk carriers.

Similarly, railroads will preserve Class I for three to two shippers, as well as for two to one shippers, where they may legally grant access to another railroad.

Likewise, in the event that service performance decreases during the merger integration, customers will be able to obtain temporary access to an alternative rail service.

Regarding the public benefits of the merger that are not delivered on time, customers will have access to a new pricing process. Combined with the new service protection during the integration period, this new process places greater responsibility on customers.

“The public benefits of our merger are clear. A stronger supply chain makes American businesses more competitive. Shifting freight from road to rail reduces wear and tear on taxpayer-funded highways, improves safety, eases congestion, and lowers emissions. Revitalizing the rail industry creates well-paying, unionized jobs,” said Mark George, president and CEO of Norfolk Southern.

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Grupo México Transportes (GMXT) reported a 14.3% increase in its total revenue during the second quarter of 2026 (2Q26) , and confirmed that it is looking to invest in the railway sector of Brazil and Argentina.

“We are analyzing different investment opportunities seeking to generate value for our shareholders; these opportunities include railway operations in Brazil through acquisition and in Argentina through the bidding of railway assets for rail freight movement,” the company stated.

He specified that in the case of Brazil there is the possibility of a stake in a relevant asset of the country, with a view to growing volumes in a diversified manner and improving efficiency .

For Argentina, he explained that they expect the corresponding tender to be launched, which, if it is a comprehensive model, could be attractive to the company , unlike the divided model ( open access ) that has proven to generate losses and require subsidies from the government and would not be of interest to Grupo México .

“Both offer a significant opportunity for increased volume transport by rail. With our 30 years of experience and advanced technologies, we could integrate them into the aforementioned rail networks and gain market share, higher volumes, and greater efficiencies,” he emphasized.

Regarding its Q2 2026 results, GMXT went from $853,221,000 to $975,238,000 year-on-year , growth that was mainly driven by the agricultural, intermodal and automotive segments.

According to the report sent to the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) , EBITDA reached $406 million 648 thousand in Q2 2026, an 8.3% increase year-on-year.

Meanwhile,  the cargo transported grew 7% compared to the same period in 2025, totaling 524,649 cars.

The increase in volume was led by the metals segment , with a 26% increase in cars, followed by intermodal which grew 12% and the agricultural segment with a 6% increase.

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The adoption of predictive maintenance schemes based on artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) will be fundamental to preventing failures, strengthening operational safety, optimizing spending on railway infrastructure and bolstering Mexico’s logistical competitiveness, said Tomás Allen, commercial vice president of Fracttal , a company specializing in the digital maintenance of equipment and physical assets.

“The rail infrastructure of the future cannot be managed solely through periodic inspections and manual reports. As the complexity of networks increases, the ability to anticipate failures using artificial intelligence will be a requirement to guarantee service continuity and the safety of millions of users,” Allen said.

Predictive maintenance combines IoT-connected sensors, cloud platforms, and AI algorithms capable of continuously monitoring the condition of tracks, turnouts, brakes, electrical equipment, and other critical assets.

With this information, it is possible to identify wear patterns , prioritize interventions, and reduce unscheduled downtime before it evolves into major failures, the specialist pointed out.

For the railway sector, this technological evolution also represents a financial decision , as various international operators have incorporated predictive maintenance strategies to improve the availability of their assets, reduce repair costs and strengthen operational safety, relying on advanced analytics and AI to process information generated by sensors installed in the infrastructure in this transport.

In Mexico, Tomás Allen pointed out, the challenge takes on a strategic dimension, since the federal government plans to build at least 2,377 kilometers of new railway lines during the six-year term , in addition to strengthening the Interoceanic Train and other railway systems.

“ In railway infrastructure, the cost of an unplanned failure is often several times the cost of a preventive intervention , considering operational disruptions, logistical impacts, asset repairs and safety risks,” Allen emphasized.

In addition to passenger transport, modernizing maintenance will be a key element in strengthening the country’s logistical competitiveness , since, he stated, a more reliable infrastructure favors the continuity of freight transport, reduces downtime and improves the use of public and private investments in a context where the railway is regaining prominence within supply chains.

Therefore, with the new generation of railway projects under development, he considered that the digitization of maintenance will cease to be a complementary tool and become an essential component of the operation.

Incorporating technologies, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence from the early stages will protect long-term investments, strengthen operational security, and increase the resilience of an infrastructure that will be crucial for Mexico’s mobility and economic competitiveness.

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Given the congestion and accident rates on Mexico’s highways, it is necessary to increase freight movement by rail , with intermodal transport being the best alternative, according to Carlos Martner, coordinator of Integrated Transport and Logistics at the Mexican Transportation Institute (IMT) .

During his participation in the  XXV National Meeting of Land Transportation , organized by the Mexican Association of Land Transportation Engineering (AMIVTAC) , the specialist stated that land freight transport is considered unfeasible in the medium and long term, due to congestion in the main highway corridors that results in delays, higher maintenance costs and increased pollution.

“ The railway has to participate much more in the movement of cargo flows in the country and it certainly has the potential to do so, and in this perspective what stands out is intermodal transport, which is characterized, above all, by transporting containers by rail from both ports and land borders, as well as domestic flows in inland terminals,” he stressed.

He explained that actions are needed to transition to digitized intermodal transport and achieve real-time synchronization to promote a more balanced national freight transport network, with lower costs, polluting emissions and accidents .

He explained that since the late 1990s, intermodal transport has registered significant growth, although since 2011 it has slowed to a rate of 4.2%; however, it represents a tenth of the freight flows by rail, so “it still has a huge opportunity for growth.”

The specialist specified that the cross-border segment moved more than one million TEUs (20-foot containers) in 2025 , with an average annual growth rate of 5.1% between 2019 and 2025. Meanwhile, maritime intermodal registered a minimal increase of 0.34% in the same period; while domestic intermodal moved 209,000 TEUs last year, with an average annual growth rate of 12.1% in 2019-2025.

“It is in this segment where we believe there are very large opportunities to shift cargo from trucks to intermodal flows and origin-destination pairs that we have identified as having potential, but policies and a governance mechanism are required to make this modal shift happen; for years we have made estimates of the potential of intermodal transport in Mexico, projections and not much has happened,” he stated.

Similarly, Martner said that part of the challenge in carrying out the transition to intermodal is ” the absence of a governance framework capable of managing a large-scale interconnected logistics ecosystem.”

“If we ignore current trends, intermodal transport will continue to grow, but it will never be enough to counter the greater growth in road transport. There also need to be relatively simple policy actions that would help stimulate this mode of transport in some way, for example, creating specific protocols to immediately address blockages on railway lines ,” he stated.

He also considered that it is necessary to facilitate and standardize customs processes, and to digitize procedures and documents .

“In the case of intermodal transport, documents are required that are not required for road transport, such as Annex 29 of Foreign Trade, which has no use and yet affects and discourages the use of this mode of transport,” he argued.

In addition to establishing incentives for the use of less polluting transport , as well as controls on weights and dimensions for freight transport, “we see that the regulations are quite generous with this mode, and everything is detrimental to stimulating competition with intermodal transport,” he concluded.

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The  Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported a 9.8% increase in freight movement between Mexico and the United States during the first 27 weeks of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025.

According to the agency, the accumulated volume on Mexican railways during that period was 700,187 railcars and containers, as well as intermodal trailers .

In that sense, intermodal had a growth of 15.5%, grains registered an increase of 12.2%, while vehicles and parts increased 9.5% year-on-year.

Conversely, the AAR detailed that four segments experienced declines: coal; forest products; oil and its derivatives; and other products with 98.9%, 14.8%, 11.8% and 14.9%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

He detailed that Mexican railway companies reported 14,182 loaded railcars in the week ending July 11, an increase of 24.6% compared to the same period in 2025, and 14,082 intermodal units , which meant an annual increase of 55.4 percent.

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The Mexican government has started the second stage of passenger train construction, whose works and tenders will be in charge of the Ministry of National Defense (Defensa) and the Agency of Trains and Integrated Public Transport (ATTRAPI) .

“We finished all the technical studies, basic engineering and demand studies and the Felipe Ángeles Engineering Group will execute the Irapuato-León, León-Guadalajara and we have already launched the international public tender because we want more participation and more bids for the first section that goes from Querétaro to San Miguel de Allende, which is the Querétaro-San Luis Potosí,” said Efraín Deschamps Gutiérrez de Velasco, director of Works at ATTRAPI.

He announced that next Monday they will launch the bidding process for the San Luis Potosí to Saltillo section, while they continue with the demand and pre-investment studies and basic engineering for the Mazatlán-Los Mochis section, although he clarified that he does not yet have an authorized start date.

During his participation in the XXV National Meeting of Land Transportation , organized by the Mexican Association of Land Transportation Engineering (AMIVTAC) which is taking place in Morelia, Michoacán, he reiterated that for these sections there will only be dedicated lanes, so ” there will be no interaction with freight lanes , nor level crossings; we have maximum speeds of 160 to 200 kilometers per hour.”

He also mentioned that the third phase, planned for approximately 1,100 kilometers, will cover the Pacific Corridor, specifically the Guadalajara-Tepic, Mazatlán-Los Mochis (currently under development with no start date for construction), Los Mochis-Guaymas, and Guaymas-Hermosillo sections. A potential fourth phase would include the Tepic-Mazatlán and Hermosillo-Nogales sections.

“ We are building an integrated national rail network, connected to other modes of transport . Each of the stations we are building also includes an integrated space for urban public transport. We want to consolidate a modern rail system,” emphasized Efraín Deschamps Gutiérrez de Velasco.

Regarding the first stage, he recalled that two sections are being built by the Felipe Ángeles Engineering Group, the Mexico-AIFA and AIFA-Pachuca, and Mexico-Queretaro, while ATTRAPI, through tenders, is building the Queretaro-Irapuato and Saltillo-Nuevo Laredo sections.

Regarding the Saltillo-Nuevo Laredo section, he said that it is the longest stretch that is already under construction and covers 396.34 kilometers from the Derramadero industrial zone to Nuevo Laredo.

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After more than a year since the first crossing of vehicles through the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT) , the second shipment with three thousand vehicles from Hyundai Glovis Mexico was carried out .

The units arrived from the ship Glovis Condor at the port of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, coming from Masan, South Korea, to be transferred by the interoceanic railway to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, towards the ports of Brunswick and Philadelphia, in the United States.

“The arrival of this second interoceanic vehicle crossing demonstrates the private sector’s confidence in Oaxaca’s logistical capabilities. Each operation strengthens the state’s position as a key hub for international trade and contributes to generating investment, employment, and well-being for Oaxacan families,” highlighted Raúl Ruiz Robles, Secretary of Economic Development of Oaxaca.

He emphasized that the state government is working in coordination with the CIIT to take advantage of the strategic benefits of this infrastructure, promote the attraction of investments , and generate greater development opportunities for the state.

It is worth remembering that on March 27, 2025, the Glovis Cosmos ship arrived at the port of Salina Cruz from Asia, with 900 units of said automotive company as part of a pilot program to use the CIIT , thus making the first interoceanic crossing.

Ruiz Robles considered that the transfer of these units reaffirms the potential of the CIIT to offer efficient logistics solutions , strengthen national and international supply chains and consolidate the Isthmus of Tehuantepec as one of the main centers of economic development in the country.

This operation represents a new step forward in the consolidation of the Corridor , a project promoted by the Mexican government to boost development in the south-southeast of the country, improve connectivity between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and consolidate a logistics platform that increases Mexico’s competitiveness in international trade, he stressed.

This move confirms the continuity of the service and the confidence of international companies in this logistics platform.

Furthermore, it strengthens the country’s strategy to position the CIIT as a global logistics hub to serve supply chains linked to the automotive industry and other sectors.

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CANCÚN, Q. ROO – Strengthening trade between Mexico, the United States, and Canada will require a rail system capable of offering much more than just installed capacity. The resilience of supply chains in North America will increasingly depend on the integration of infrastructure, technology, digitalization, and coordination among operators, authorities, and users, agreed representatives of major rail companies during the panel “Resilient and Sustainable Rail Transport: Integrating Infrastructure, Technology, and Sustainability in the USMCA,” held at the 2026 National Freight Transportation Forum of the National Association of Private Transportation (ANTP) .

The discussion made it clear that the growth of nearshoring (relocation of production lines) and the consolidation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) are increasing pressure on regional logistics infrastructure, forcing the rail sector to evolve toward more agile, connected, and sustainable operating models. According to the panelists, North American competitiveness will no longer depend solely on having more tracks or locomotives, but rather on building logistics chains capable of responding quickly to an environment of greater demand, uncertainty, and environmental requirements.

Linda Hernández, Business and Industrial Development Manager at Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) , stated that rail integration between Canada, the United States, and Mexico represents an opportunity to simplify cross-border operations and offer more competitive alternatives for users. “Railways are about connection, trust, but above all, they are a promise of continuity,” she affirmed, explaining that the merger between Kansas City Southern and Canadian Pacific (which ultimately resulted in CPKC) made it possible to build the first rail network directly connecting the three North American countries.

The executive emphasized that true growth in rail capacity depends not only on expanding physical infrastructure. “True capacity lies in coordination. It lies in designing reliable services, investing in infrastructure, digitizing processes, and building alliances with authorities, customers, ports, terminals, and carriers,” she noted. Following this logic, she explained that a logistics chain “is not as strong as its largest link, but as its weakest.”

As an example of this strategy, Hernández presented the Mexico Midwest Express (MMX) and Southeast Mexico Express (SMX) services , developed after the integration of CPKC to directly connect Mexican industrial centers with the Midwest and Southeast United States in journeys of less than four days. He also highlighted the addition of refrigerated containers, the installation of new Senasica inspection points outside the border, and the opening of the second international rail bridge in Laredo, infrastructure that doubled the rail exchange capacity between the two countries. “When we connect the rail network, the region undoubtedly moves forward,” he summarized.

From the perspective of Grupo México Transportes (GMXT) , resilience also involves incorporating artificial intelligence into the core of rail operations. Daniel Doria, Commercial Director, explained that the company is developing “La Maquinista ,” an artificial intelligence system designed to optimize train formation, allocate capacity, and improve the network’s operational performance. The project, he said, does not seek to replace human expertise, but rather to enhance it through algorithms capable of learning, anticipating, and making operational decisions in real time.

The initial results, he asserted, already show significant reductions in dwell times, a higher average network speed, and more efficient use of the rail fleet. For Doria, artificial intelligence will be a productivity enabler, while modal integration will remain essential. “Road transport and rail definitely coexist, and coexist very well. It all depends on the customer’s needs,” he stated, emphasizing that both modes of transport must complement each other to offer tailored logistics solutions.

The executive added that GMXT, part of Grupo México , continues to strengthen its coverage through annual investments of between $450 and $500 million in infrastructure, yards, terminals, locomotives, and technology, as well as promoting alternatives such as CG Rail , the rail-sea service connecting Coatzacoalcos (Veracruz) with Mobile (Alabama), as a new option for trade between Mexico and the United States. “When infrastructure, technology, and logistics work as a single network, growth ceases to be a possibility and becomes a competitive advantage,” he concluded.

Francisco Fabila, CEO of Ferrocarril y Terminal del Valle de México (Ferrovalle) , stated that the transformation of the railway system will depend on the automation of critical operational processes . He explained that the company operates the most important intermodal rail hub in North America, located in the nation’s capital, and that the challenge lies in managing more than one hundred trains daily in a highly congested area using digital tools and artificial intelligence.

To achieve this, Ferrovalle incorporated rail arches with optical recognition , automated mechanical inspection systems, railcar classification algorithms, and control centers that allow for real-time monitoring of the entire operation. With these tools, processes that previously took several hours can now be carried out virtually instantly, while customers can track every movement of their trains, containers, and tractor-trailers from digital platforms. “Every movement, every train, every load, every container, and every truck is digitally visible in real time to the customer and in an automated way,” Fabila emphasized.

In parallel, he explained that digitalization has also improved the efficiency of the Pantaco intermodal terminal (also known by that name), where truck access times have been reduced from several minutes to just seconds thanks to OCR systems and artificial intelligence, strengthening connectivity between rail and trucking. He also emphasized that technology has become an essential component for reinforcing security and maintaining operational continuity at the main rail hub in the Valley of Mexico.

For her part, Daniela Zarza, Business Director – Premium at Union Pacific , focused her remarks on the need to continue strengthening North American rail integration through investments, strategic mergers, and talent development. She explained that the company is undergoing a regulatory process to finalize its integration with Norfolk Southern , which would allow for the construction of a transcontinental rail network—from coast to coast in the United States—and eliminate interchange points that currently limit the smoothness of operations. In her view, greater competition among operators will ultimately benefit customers directly through improved services and shorter transit times.

The executive also highlighted that Union Pacific, which operates cross-border services through six border crossings between Mexico and the United States , makes ongoing investments in infrastructure maintenance, technology, and cybersecurity, while also promoting diversity and inclusion strategies to increase female participation in the railroad’s operational areas by 2030. Simultaneously, the company is advancing the development of locomotives with hybrid technologies and initiatives to reduce the carbon footprint of rail transport. “Rail is the safest mode of transportation in Mexico and the United States,” she stated, noting that a Union Pacific train can travel a distance equivalent to 49 times around the world before derailing.

Although each company presented different strategies, the message converged on a single point: the future of rail transport in North America will depend on its ability to integrate infrastructure, artificial intelligence, automation, sustainability, and collaboration among all actors in the logistics chain. In an environment where regional trade continues to accelerate, rail operators agreed that resilience is no longer just about recovering from disruptions, but about anticipating them and turning them into a competitive advantage under the USMCA.

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El cargo The railway is accelerating its regional and digital transformation in Mexico. apareció primero en T21.