First task for Sheinbaum: Passenger rail transport in Mexico

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador set the first task for Claudia Sheinbaum if she wins the elections: to reactivate passenger rail transport in Mexico.

In this regard, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador considered that the project to reactivate passenger rail transport in Mexico could be realized within a six-year term.

So, the first task for Claudia Sheinbaum is to finalize the passenger rail transport routes in Mexico that will help consolidate the sector.

He stated that this timeframe is sufficient for the modernization of railroads and the acquisition of the trains that will operate because the essential right of way is already in place.

In revisiting the decree published last Monday, López Obrador once again disseminated the project, which establishes that the companies currently holding concessions for freight railroads have until January 15 to express their interest and present a project.

In this regard, he informed that letters have already been sent to Grupo México, which is one of the companies that holds concessions for railroads for freight use.

They will have the responsibility to reactivate passenger rail transport.

Moreover, he pointed out that if there is no interest from private companies in obtaining the concessions, the Secretariats of National Defense and the Navy, which already have the rights to operate the Tren Maya, could obtain the concession to operate passenger rail transport in Mexico.

He reiterated that, in his view, the decision to cancel passenger trains in 1995 was a wrong one.

Passenger rail transport in Mexico: 7 routes

Regarding the decree published in the morning in the Official Gazette of the Federation, López Obrador highlighted the central objective of his decree.

He stated, ‘We made this decision because train travel will be more economical, comfortable, less polluting (as tracks can be electrified), it is a safer public transport, and it will increase mobility from the main cities in Mexico to the northern border.’

The president detailed that in the first stage, there will be seven routes for the passenger rail system in Mexico, initially serving both cargo and, once the project is completed, passengers. These routes are: Mexico-Veracruz-Coatzacoalcos; Felipe Ángeles Airport-Pachuca; Mexico-Querétaro-León-Aguascalientes; Manzanillo-Colima-Guadalajara-Irapuato; Mexico-San Luis Potosí-Monterrey-Nuevo Laredo; Mexico-Querétaro-Guadalajara-Tepic-Mazatlán-Nogales; and Aguascalientes-Chihuahua-Ciudad Juárez.

In his speech, he once again praised the figure of Francisco I. Madero as the main protagonist of the changes that would follow his death, the origin of a social transformation in the country.

He stated that his sacrifice and that of a million Mexicans were not in vain, thanks to the Revolution, which unleashed with greater strength and depth after his assassination.

López Obrador said that the decree establishes the return of modern passenger train services using 17,484 kilometers of railroad tracks and facilities that were previously granted for freight service but will now also be used for passenger trains.

Aside from its implementation, the document is published on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the installation of the first passenger railroad in Mexico, initiated by President Benito Juárez García and concluded by President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada from Mexico to Veracruz.”

Also road: The Mexican economy in 2023 slowed down with a 0.1% decline in October.