The current administration has a great challenge in not putting at risk the sustainability of public finances in the medium and long term with the allocation of the budget for railway system projects, considered the Center for Economic and Budgetary Research (CIEP) .
He explained that since the roads and routes already exist throughout the country, the estimated expenditure for the implementation of the projects might not be of the magnitude of the Mayan Train, whose budget represented 94.8% of the resources for railway infrastructure in the last six-year term.
“If public resources are required, it is expected that the next PPEF will allocate a budget to prioritising investment projects for the railway system. One of the challenges will be compliance with the principles of sustainable development and environmental protection without jeopardising the sustainability of public finances in the medium and long term,” he said.
He mentioned that spending on physical investment in the railway system from 2013 to 2023 showed a 39% increase in expenditure. The year with the greatest resources in infrastructure of this type was in 2022 with a total of 397 thousand 474 million pesos (mdp), which represented 29.1% of the total expenditure in this area and 5.16% of the total expenditure.
This figure was mainly due to spending on the Maya Train and priority projects. Cumulative spending on Maya Train infrastructure from 2020 to 2023 represented 94.8% of infrastructure spending in the railway sector and 12.1% of total spending.
Similarly, the Mexico-Toluca Interurban Train had resources for 110 thousand 244 million pesos from 2013 to 2024, followed by the Interoceanic Corridor with a total of 17 thousand 78 million pesos from 2014 to 2022 and the expansion of the Lechería-AIFA Suburban Corridor of 9 thousand 189 million pesos from 2020 to 2024. The current expenditure of the railway system showed an increase in its approved expenditure for 2024 of 3.5 times the value of 2023 due to the Manage Airport, Railway and Auxiliary Services Infrastructure program.
CIEP stated that the implementation of new passenger train routes could be an important area of opportunity for the country’s economic development, and will be a priority area for the next six-year term.
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