The regeneration of Mexico’s rail passenger network would not only “boost national growth” but provide vital connectivity to remote regions of the country, said federal legislator Miguel Torruco, in outlining a proposal to upgrade railway services throughout the country.
Nearly all rail passenger service in Mexico has been suspended since 1997, although the network had been in decline for several decades prior to that. The Chihuahua-Pacific Railway, a tourist route running through the magnificent Copper Canyon, links the city of Chihuahua and Los Mochis and also serves as an important transportation system for locals, while the Cuervo Express in Jalisco is a weekend service for tourists only running between Guadalajara and Tequila.
The $US7.4 billion Tren Maya, under construction in the south of Mexico linking Cancun and Palenque, will open in 2023 and be a combined service for tourists and the local population.
Currently eight years in the works is the “off-and-on-again” commuter line linking Mexico City and the nearby city of Toluca that is also projected to open in 2023.
In 2014, a contract was awarded to a Chinsese company to build a $US4 billion high speed rail line between Mexico City and Queretero but was canceled the following year over controversy surrounding the bidding process.
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