Aguascalientes-Chihuahua-Juárez passenger rail line announced

From the editorial / El Diario

Monday, November 20, 2023 | 17:31

The Presidential Decree of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, published today in the Official Gazette of the Federation, declares public passenger rail transport service in the Mexican railway system as a priority area for national development; Includes the Aguascalientes-Chihuahua-Juárez passenger traffic line.

It establishes that priority shall be given to the provision of public passenger rail service on concessional public railway communication lines and public railway freight service shall be honored as per the provisions of the respective concession.

“Third. Concessionaires of public freight rail transport services shall first be invited to submit proposals for implementation of passenger rail services within the public rail connectivity routes awarded to them. Interested parties shall submit their proposals to the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport by January 15, 2024,” it said.

“If the concessionaires of public freight rail transport service do not submit viable proposals for providing passenger service in terms of investment, construction time, modernization of roads or do not express their interest and acceptance within the established period. In the preceding clause, the Central Government, through the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport, the Secretariat of National Defense Or may issue job titles to the Secretariat of the Navy, which already operates the Maya Railway and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Railway, to persons interested in providing passenger rail transportation services in accordance with the provisions of the Railway Services Regulatory Act and its Regulations, where appropriate.

The order announces the first seven routes to be concessioned, which should consider stations in operation before 1995:

1 Mexico-Veracruz-Cotzacolcos train; 2 AIFA-Pachuca intercity train; 3 Mexico-Querétaro-León-Aguascalientes train; 4 train Manzanillo-Colima-Guadalajara-Irapuato; 5 Mexico-San Luis Potosí-Monterrey-Nuevo Laredo; 6 México-Querétaro-Guadalajara-Tepic-Mazatlán-Nogales; 7 Aguascalientes-Chihuahua-Ciudad Juárez.

The decree points out that the regulation of public rail transport services for goods and passengers and the implementation of this decree will be the responsibility of the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport and the Regulatory Agency for Rail Transport. respective powers.