The government plans to invest 1.3 billion pesos during its six-year term for a passenger train plan.

Andrés Lajous, director of the Railway Transport Regulatory Agency (ARTF), is responsible for completing one of the major projects of the 4T: restoring passenger train service. During his current administration, he must execute a historic public investment of 1.31 trillion pesos to build approximately 3,400 km of new tracks and stations (to which will be added viaducts, tunnels, pedestrian crossings, and more).

There are no prototypes of the new trains in his office's conference room, nor does he like to show renderings.

He asserts that the works are what matters, and to complete them on time and within budget, he is working intensively with his close team, which includes collaborators who worked with him at the Ministry of Mobility in Mexico City, technicians from the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT) with experience in railway and highway construction, and some members of the National Fund for Tourism Development (Fonatur) who were involved in the development of the Mayan Train.

In addition, military engineers occupy a significant space at the work tables.

The official is certain that the experience and knowledge he has accumulated in the railway sector over the past six years will work in his favor.

“If you add the kilometers of the Maya Train to those of the interoceanic railway, we're talking 2,200 km, which is an unprecedented figure. Yes, we have a great and interesting challenge, although it's really a continuation of what's been done. Passenger trains are very important for the country because of the improvements in the quality of travel they can provide between cities, the reduction of emissions, passenger safety, and the economic impact generated by the project itself,” he comments.

Among the many issues Lajous addresses, two stand out: who will operate the entire passenger train network in the country (including the Suburban Train, which is a key part of the Mexico-Querétaro train) and where the resources will come from to guarantee operations.

Regarding the first point, he notes that President Claudia Sheinbaum has already stated that the new trains will be operated by the same company linked to the Ministry of National Defense (Defense) that operates the Maya Train, and that regarding the Suburban Train, appropriate coordination will have to be found, for example, for the various services that will be available at the Buenavista terminal station in Mexico City.

“There are no restrictions. It's common in all railway systems. In large stations around the world, you have multiple operators. Not just two, you can have up to seven. The characteristics, control systems, and references are already determined, and we'll work from those,” he explained.

In an interview, he also pointed out that, for the time being, no commercial or real estate developments are being considered around the various stations, as was once considered for the Maya Train (with a clear tourism focus) to generate revenue to aid in rail operations.

"It's said that trains aren't profitable, depending on what they mean by that. And part of the trick is that it doesn't specify what that means, although it's true that there are few trains where the investment is recovered through operation," he comments.

From the federal government's perspective, passenger service is so important to improving the country's connectivity for the benefit of its inhabitants that the investment is public, and with high-demand sections, operating costs can be covered. That's why the four sections they defined to start with are where there is the most demand and a percentage of the operating costs can be covered with the tickets themselves: Mexico City-Pachuca, Mexico City-Querétaro, Querétaro-Irapuato, and Saltillo Nuevo-Laredo.

Recent experience with trains has been accumulated at Fonatur and Defensa, but not at SICT. How is all this knowledge integrated?

That's partially true. The SICT has worked on the Toluca train and the branch line to Felipe Ángeles International Airport. Additionally, as we've reported before, an initial division of labor, which also allows for the ongoing collaboration we've established between the SICT and the Ministry of Defense, is that we begin with the demand studies, and they begin with the basic engineering (they've done comparable work for sections 5, 6, and 7 of the Mayan Train).

Planning is essential in any project. For the trains you mentioned, especially the Maya, there was little planning time. What's happening in this case?

Each project is different because it presents different challenges. The goal is to complete it on time and on budget. In large railway infrastructure projects, there's a lot of interaction. Basic engineering is necessary to have the information needed to begin construction. In reality, the work is a collaborative effort; everyone is involved from the beginning: Semarnat (National Institute of Statistics and Census), Sedatu (National Institute of Agriculture), Conagua (National Institute of Water Resources), INAH (National Institute of Hydrology), and INDAABIN (National Institute of Statistics and Census). There are also social stakeholders, which is why the SICT's liaison department has been strengthened to assist with everything related to right-of-way. Part of the experience gained with the Mayan Train is that it always required multiple stakeholders to resolve issues and move forward.

Will the loading lane be used in any case?

In one respect, I stated this at a meeting of the Mexican Railway Association. This year, of the 785 km to be built, we will share about 5 km of track. We are designing the system so that we will never be on the freight track. Due to complicated topography, we have no choice. For freight operations, there are two tracks: we will use one freight track for passengers (with the appropriate adjustments), and freight trains will use their track as they always do on that stretch. This means that the two trains will never be on the same track.

Regarding transparency, what are they going to do? Today, we can't know the cost of the Mayan Train, for example.

To date, all the presentations we've made at the morning conference and the documents that have been published contain a wealth of information and details. There are certain details that could affect the process, and we are careful about disseminating them. As the work progresses, we are committed to providing information. If anything else is needed, we will do so.