Sheinbaum Meets with Train Manufacturers, Seeks Domestic Production of Equipment

The official mentioned that the analysis of the right of way, demand studies, and project definitions are currently underway.

The federal government headed by President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo announced that in order to carry out the passenger railway projects detailed in her National Project , an average of 80 trains must be acquired, so she held a meeting with Alstom , CAF and Siemens , the main manufacturers of this type of equipment, to find out about availability. In addition, she expressed the desire for a large part of the trains to be built in the country.

“I met to see what possibilities they have of being able to manufacture in the six years that we will be in government. Because the trains take approximately two years to start rolling out. At the same time that we are building the tracks, the tender for the trains has to be done,” explained the President of Mexico.

At a press conference, Sheinbaum Pardo stated that Siemens is the only company that does not have a plant in Mexico, however , it is planned that most of the trains will be assembled in the country to strengthen the railway industry and at the same time jobs.

It should be remembered that, during the current six-year term, efforts will be made to build passenger trains from the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) to Pachuca, as well as Querétaro-San Luis Potosí , Saltillo-Monterrey-Nuevo Laredo, Querétaro-Guadalajara to Nogales passing through Tepic, Mazatlán, Culiacán and Hermosillo, and Mexico-Puebla-Veracruz.

The president also commented that the right-of-way analysis, demand studies and the definition of the projects are being carried out. She clarified, “what type of regulations the roads will have, where there are two roads, where there is one road according to the demand, when the environmental impact study is carried out, what permits can be granted for the studies prior to the environmental impact statement. So, we are working on it and also what the costs mean,” she said.

One of the 100 points included in the National Project specifies that the 18 thousand kilometers of privatized railways will be used for passenger trains. These are the projects: