Construction of the AIFA to Pachuca train starts March 22nd
Target completion date - October 2026.
President Sheinbaum announced yesterday that the next section of passenger rail from the Santa Lucia Airport (AIFA) to Pachuca has commenced. As this is an extension of the Buenavista to AIFA train it will use the same rolling stock which has it’s positives and negatives.
The trip from Pachuca to Buenavista station in Mexico City’s Historic Center will take 1 hr 10 minutes and the train will have a maximum operating speed of 120 kph. This is slower than the Tren Maya’s 160 kph maximum speed because they’re using the same electric suburban trainsets as they use for the Tren Insurgente from Toluca to Mexico City as well as for the Buenavista to AIFA airport thus they’re not long distance train equipment. The trip from Buenavista to AIFA will take 38 minutes which puts the time between AIFA and Pachuca at 32 minutes.
There will be 57 km of electrified double track from AIFA to Pachuca.
The construction will be done by the "Felipe Ángeles" Engineering Group under the umbrella of the SEDANA (Army) engineers which will also be completing the Buenavista to AIFA train after taking it over this month. The construction resembles that of the Tren Maya a great deal in that there will be 10 different construction projects happening at the very same time - 5 for the construction of the railway, 1 for the installation of 57 kilometers of centenary and electrification, 2 for traction works, 1 for basic engineering 1 for Execution Studies.
The basic engineering is 31% done currently. There will be 12.3 kilometers of reinforced concrete viaducts elevated to 11 meters, 45 kilometers of embankments to support the tracks, 7 station and bus stop buildings, and 20 kilometers of freight rail track will be moved to build two passenger lines. In addition there will be 12 bridges, 56 drainage works and 14 vehicular bridges will be constructed.
The target date for completion is 1 year and 7 months from now which is surprisingly close to the International Paste Celebration in Hidalgo. Perhaps they’ll make an even bigger festival out of it by celebrating the completion of the train if they are successful.
See the original announcement in Spanish. Looks like I’m eating Pastes in Hidalgo next year.
