Work on metropolitan Guadalajara’s fourth light train (Tren Ligero) line will begin this year, regardless of whether the federal government approves any funding, Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro said this week, after laying the first stone of a new Universidad de Guadalajara (UdG) campus in Tlajomulco.
The overland subway line aims to significantly reduce travel times between the Tlajomulco suburbs and the rest of the metro area. The 20-kilometer, nine-station line will run from the center of Tlajomulco, crossing both the Circuito Metropolitano and Periferico, to join up with the Fray Angélico Macrobus station in Colonia Miravalle. It will run parallel to the existing train line operated by the private company Ferromex.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has given his blessing to the project, although Mexico’s Finance Ministry has delayed committing any funds for this year.
The estimated budget for the new line is $US650 million. Less than a quarter of this amount would be required to fulfill the project’s 2021 construction plans. Completion is scheduled for 2024.
Alfaro made his comments at the laying of the inaugural stone of a new Universidad de Guadalajara campus in Tlajomulco, which he boasted will be the “most innovative of its kind in the country.” Situated on a 51-hectare plot of land, the campus is set to be one of the largest, area-wise, in Mexico.
“It’s inconceivable that we will build a university center like this if we don’t have adequate transportation,” Alfaro said, alluding to the federal government’s dithering in releasing funds for the new subway line.
When completed, the new UdG campus (CUTlajomulco) will have the capacity to offer courses to 15,000 students.