President Andrés Manuel López Obrador published the decree in which the passenger train service was established as a “priority area for national development.” Of this, until January 15 is given for the current cargo concessionaires (Ferromex, Kansas City Southern de México, and Ferrovalle) to present a proposal to launch the first seven routes.
The first concession train passenger routes are: Mexico-Veracruz-Coatzacoalcos; the AIFA-Pachuca Interurban; 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 railways already concessioned, “preference shall be given to the provision of public passenger rail service, and public rail freight transport service shall be respected in terms of the provisions of the respective concessions,” established the decree published by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation (SICT) in the Official Gazette of the Federation.
It states that in operating passenger routes, the current concessionaires of the rail freight transport service “will be the first to be invited to present projects for the implementation of the passenger rail service” within the routes they currently provide.
To do this, they must present a “viable proposal in investment, construction time, and modernization of roads to provide passenger service” to SICT no later than January 15, 2024. If they do not do it or not in those terms, they are thinking about the tasks of the Army, the Mariana, or the entry of other individuals.
“The federal government, through the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation, may grant assignment titles to the Secretariat of National Defense or the Secretariat of the Navy, which already operates the Maya Train and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Train, or, if appropriate, to individuals who present proposals and are interested in providing the service,” the order said.
In addition to its implementation, the document was published within the framework of the 150th anniversary of the installation of the first passenger railway in Mexico, initiated by President Benito Juárez García and completed by President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada from Mexico to Veracruz.
