The Mexico-Aifa train will be ready in July; The defense will end

Alma E. Muñoz and Alonso Urrutia

La Jornada newspaper
Friday, February 14, 2025, p. 6

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo reported that she delivered to the Ministry of National Defense the connection work of the Mexico – Aifa train, which goes from dairy to that air terminal, given the delays recorded by the concessionaire that was in charge since 2022. Inauguration will be next July.

Not to mention suburban railways – which had the concession – said that when his government began, in agreement with them, it was decided that That work was also done by military engineers, (because) the concessionaire already had a long time.

At the morning conference, Andrés Lajous, general director of the Railway Transport Regulatory Agency, mentioned that the work currently has an advance of 80 percent.

For his part, the Commander of the Grouping of Engineers Felipe Ángeles, General Ricardo Vallejo, said that with the construction of 881 kilometers of railways of the Mayan train in 778 days, we have shown that Mexico is capable of building a kilometer 130 meters daily And that includes, he added, stations, whereabouts, slopes, maintenance bases, transverse drainage works, high voltage antennas.

In the country, he said, There is sufficient and quality labor because there are good quality materials, productive plant and because, six years after building railways, we already have technical experience and installed capacity to do so. This is a great economic growth trigger via public works construction.

The president reiterated that in March the construction of the AIFA-Pachuca train; In April, Mexico-Querétaro; In July, Querétaro- Irapuato and Saltillo-Nuevo Laredo. All to open in 2027.

Vallejo pointed out that the defense works in basic engineering to have the four unified projects and will be delivered in April to the Ministry of Communications and Transportation for the bidding corresponding to civil companies.

He also indicated that Mexico occupies the eleventh place worldwide in the development of railway infrastructure per square kilometer. We are not bad, it is a railway power, the same in the number of rolling material, locomotives and drag units.

Regarding the number of passengers, We oscillate in the tenth place. However, there is a lot of infrastructure to develophe added.

After pointing out that they are also initiating the basic engineering studies of the Mayan train load infrastructure, he added that AIFA It is ready to withstand 100 million passengers and reach up to 3 million tons of annual load, and the investment for its growth will be minimal.