With a global investment of 157 billion pesos (mdp) , the Government of Mexico will start work next year on the construction of four sections of the passenger train, which are: AIFA-Pachuca , Mexico-Querétaro , Saltillo-Nuevo Laredo and Querétaro-Irapuato , as announced by Andrés Lajous , head of the Railway Transport Regulatory Agency (ARTF) , during the morning conference of President Claudia Sheinbaum.
The official added that this budget will also cover additional works, such as the Mayan Cargo Train and the Interoceanic Train tracks , and reported that in the first half of 2025 the Ministry of National Defense (Defense) will begin works on the AIFA-Pachuca train and the Mexico-Querétaro train.
Lajous explained that the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SICT) will tender works on the Querétaro-Irapuato and Saltillo-Nuevo Laredo sections, and at the same time the tender for the first fleet of rolling stock, that is, the trains that will be operating, will be held.
“The passenger trains will provide intercity (city to city) and regional services with dedicated tracks at maximum speeds of between 160 and 200 kilometres per hour, with main and secondary stations,” added the head of the ARTF.
Reducing travel times, improving the transport experience, increasing safety, decreasing the carbon footprint and connecting communities are the objectives that are sought to be achieved with these works.
Lajous also pointed out that during the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum, more than three thousand kilometers (km) of passenger roads will be built on the AIFA-Pachuca, Mexico-Nogales and Mexico-Nuevo Laredo routes, among others, under a four-phase implementation strategy that would total three thousand 393 km .
“The AIFA-Pachuca (54 km), Mexico-Querétaro (242 km), Saltillo-Nuevo Laredo (306 km) and Querétaro-Irapuato (184 km) sections totaling 786 km. The Querétaro-San Luis Potosí (263 km), Mazatlán-Los Mochis (441 km), and Irapuato-Guadalajara (206 km) routes totaling approximately 910 km,” he said.
In addition, another 1,145 km with the Guaymas-Hermosillo (135 km), Guadalajara-Tepic (204 km), San Luis Potosí-Saltillo (444 km) and Los Mochis-Guaymas (362 km) routes. And 552 more kilometers with the Tepic-Mazatlán (275 km) and Hermosillo-Nogales (277 km) trains.
The official said that an interdisciplinary team made up of SICT, Defense, the Secretariat of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (Sedatu) , the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) , the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (Conabio) , the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) , the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) , as well as state and municipal governments, are carrying out the preparation of the projects.
It is worth remembering that Claudia Sheinbaum had already announced that she would continue with the construction of passenger trains, with three thousand new kilometers of tracks during her six-year term, which would represent double the works carried out during the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador .
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