The AIFA-Pachuca, Mexico-Querétaro and Querétaro-Irapuato passenger trains will have an investment of more than 269 billion pesos , amounts higher than those announced by the federal government in recent months.
According to the Portfolio Investment Project document presented by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) , the AIFA-Pachuca train requires 51 billion 874 million 963 thousand 647 pesos for its construction, a project that would have to be ready in 24 months.
This amount is 3.7% higher than that announced in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) last January and which this media reported at the time. But it is also 16.9% higher than what was announced by the federal government at the end of last year on the agency’s Projects page.
However, to this cost would have to be added the operation and maintenance costs estimated at 568 million 696 thousand 742 without VAT per year, although this would reach 871 million 106 thousand 581 pesos without VAT by 2056.
This project will be 57.1 kilometers (km) long, with two tracks where nine passenger trains will run , which will be composed of two “A1-A2” cabin motor cars, with a capacity of 192 seats; an “A3” intermediate car, with 163 seats and two “A4-A5” intermediate cars, also with 179 seats.
It is estimated that the daily demand for 2027 will be 80,738 passengers , so that at an annual level it will be 25,593,946 passengers, while by 2054, the last date of the document, there will be 95,676 daily and 30,329,292 annual passengers.
In addition, it will have three stations, Xaltocán Extension, Tepojaco/Tizayuca/Temascalapa/Huitzila and Pachuca). With a travel time of 35 minutes. Operating hours from 5:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. (20 hours of service).
It will mostly use the existing right-of-way of tracks H, HA and HC of the Mexican Railway System and new right-of-way required at certain points that are required to have an optimized layout.
The speed of the trains will be 120 km/h and will run on a double electrified track with catenary traction to align with what is implemented in the Suburban Train that goes from Lechería to AIFA.
“The Railway Transport Regulatory Agency (ARTF) is in the process of acquiring the missing properties to complete the Release of the Right of Way, for which the resources that will be allocated for the investment project are required,” the document states.
As an optimization measure, the improvement of the roads that are currently used for the connection between Pachuca and the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) is proposed . These measures consider major maintenance that includes the resurfacing of both free and toll roads, this includes sealing irrigation, application of carpets, releveling, pavement recovery, among other works that require 279 million 696 thousand 384 pesos .
It should be noted that the federal government reserved, without giving details, the annexes of this project that contain the technical, legal, economic studies and calculation reports of the cost-benefit analysis for a period of five years.
This weekend, Andrés Lajous Loaeza, head of ARTF, announced that the Mexico-Querétaro and Querétaro-Irapuato trains will have an investment of around 144 billion pesos and 73 billion pesos, respectively.
For the first, it should be noted that the announced amount is 92% higher than what was previously stated in the SHCP, which was 75 billion pesos.
For this project, 225 km of double track will be built , with trains that can go up to 200 km/h and with a travel time from Mexico to Querétaro of one hour and 50 minutes. Its main stops will be: Buenavista (in Mexico City), Tula, San Juan del Río and Querétaro, and it will generate 180 thousand jobs: 69 thousand direct and 120 thousand indirect. It will be completed by the end of 2027.
The Querétaro-Irapuato Train , a 110 km double-track train , will cost 73 billion pesos and will benefit three million inhabitants in the main cities of Querétaro and Guanajuato. It will have speeds of up to 200 km/h in a travel time of just under an hour.
Construction work will be carried out between 2025 and 2027 to put the trains into operation in 2028 and it will be connected to public transport in all the cities it will pass through: Querétaro, Celaya, Salamanca and Irapuato; it will generate 88 thousand jobs: 30 thousand direct and 58 thousand indirect.
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