Rail transport in Mexico

Map of Ferrocarril Mexicano system

Mexico has a freight railway system that is privately owned and extends across most of the country, connecting major industrial centers with ports and with rail connections at the United States border. Mexico's passenger rail service consisted of a limited number of tourist trains between 1997, when Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México suspended service, and 2008, when Ferrocarril Suburbano de la Zona Metropolitana de México inaugurated Mexico's first commuter rail service between Mexico City and the State of Mexico.

History

Construction

Map of first Mexican rail line between Veracruz and Mexico City

Mexico's rail history began in 1837, with the granting of a concession for a railroad to be built between Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico City. However, no railroad was built based on that concession.

In 1857, Don Antonio Escandon secured the right to construct a line from the port of Veracruz on to Mexico City and onward to the Pacific Ocean. Revolution and political instability stifled progress on the financing or construction of the line until 1864, when under the regime of Emperor Maximilian, the Imperial Mexican Railway Company began construction on the line. Continued political upheaval continued to stifle progress and the initial segment from Veracruz to Mexico City was inaugurated nine years later on January 1, 1873 by President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada.

President Lerdo, and his successor, Porfirio Díaz encouraged further rail development through generous concessions that included government subsidies for construction. At the beginning of Díaz's first term "Porfirio Diaz had inherited 640 kilometers of railroads that consisted almost exclusively of the British-owned Mexican Railway. By the end of his second term in 1910, Mexico boasted 15,360 miles (24,719.5 km) of in-service track, mostly built by American, British and French investors.

Growing nationalistic fervor in Mexico led the Díaz administration to bring the bulk of the nation's railroads under national control through a plan drafted by his Minister of Finance, José Yves Limantour. The plan, implemented in 1909, created a new government corporation, Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (FNM), which would exercise control of the main trunk rail lines through a majority of share ownership in the rail lines.

Nationalization

Rebel soldiers moving by rail during the Mexican Revolution

The rail system suffered great deterioration from neglect during the period of the Mexican Revolution. Following the Revolution, the entirety of the Mexican rail system was nationalized between 1929 and 1937. In 1987, the government merged its five regional railroads into FNM. During the later period of national ownership, FNM suffered significant financial difficulties, running an operating deficit of $552 million (37 percent of its operating budget) in 1991. Competition from the trucking and shipping decreased railroad’s share of the total freight market to about 9 percent or about half of railroads share of a decade earlier.

Privatization

In 1995, the Mexican government announced that the FNM would be privatized and divided into four main systems. As part of the restructuring for privatization, FNM suspended passenger rail service in 1997.

In 1996, Kansas City Southern (KCS), in a joint venture with Transportacion Maritima Mexicana (TMM), bought the Northeast Railroad concession that linked Mexico City, Monterrey, the Pacific port at Lázaro Cárdenas and the border crossing at Laredo. The company was initially called Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana, but was renamed Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM) in 2005 when KCS bought out TMM's interests. KCS's systems in the United States and Mexico jointly form end-to-end rail system linking the heartlands of Mexico and the United States.

The Northwest Railroad concession, connecting Mexico City and Guadalajara with the Pacific port of Manzanillo and various crossings along the United States border was sold to a joint venture between Grupo Mexico and Union Pacific Railroad in 1998 during the presidency of Dr. Ernesto Zedillo (which later occupied the position of Director of the Board of Union Pacific). The company operates as Ferrocarril Mexicano or Ferromex. Ferromex's freight volumes have increased; it hauled a record 22,365 million tonne-km in the first 6 months of 2010. Also, Ferrosur, the railroad serving Mexico City and cities/ports southeast of Mexico City, hauled their own record 3,565 million tonne-kilometers.

There were two southern concessions, which were merged in 2000 to form Ferrosur. Ferrosur operates the rail line between Mexico City and the Gulf of Mexico port of Veracruz. In 2005, Ferrosur was purchased by Ferromex's parent company. KCSM challenged the acquisition and the merger failed to receive regulatory approval.

The three major Mexican railroads jointly own Ferrocarril y Terminal del Valle de México (Ferrovalle) which operates railroads and terminals in and around Mexico City.

A tram system was also planned in Mexico City, but the project was halted in 2008.

High Speed Rail

The Secretariat of Communications and Transport of Mexico proposed a high-speed rail link that will transport its passengers from Mexico City to Guadalajara, Jalisco, with stops in the cities of Querétaro, Guanajuato, Leon and Irapuato; and a connected line running from the port city of Manzanillo to Aguascalientes. The train which would travel at 300 km/h allows passengers to travel from Mexico City to Guadalajara in just 2 hours at an affordable price (the same trip by road would last 7 hours). The network would also connect the network to Monterrey, Chilpancingo, Cuernavaca, Toluca, Puebla, Tijuana, Hermosillo, Cordoba, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Colima, Zacatecas, Torreon, Chihuahua, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Mexicali Saltillo and Acapulco by 2015. The whole project was projected to cost 240 billion pesos, or about 25 billion dollars. Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim expressed an interest in investing in high speed rail.

Major railways

Commuter rail train in Mexico City Buenavista Station

The major Class I freight railroads in Mexico include:

• Ferromex (FXE)
• Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM)

Short line railroads include:

• Ferrocarril y Terminal del Valle de México (Ferrovalle)
• Linea Coahuila Durango (LFCD)
• Ferrosur (FSRR)
• Carrizo Gorge de Mexico (Carrizo Gorge Railway subsidiary)
• Ferrocarril Transistmico
• Ferrocarriles Peninsulares del Noroeste (see Carrizo Gorge Railway)

Passenger rail lines include:

• Expreso Maya (tourist train that runs from Palenque to Mérida, Yucatán)
• Chihuahua al Pacífico (tourist train running through the Copper Canyon)
• Tequila Express (tourist train running from Guadalajara, Jalisco to a tequila distillery in Amatitán)
• Ferrocarril Suburbano de la Zona Metropolitana de México (commuter rail system in the Mexico City metro area)
• Mexico City metro

Museums

There are several rail museums in Mexico including: the Old Train Station and Railway Museum in Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes; a former station along the Interoceanic Railway of Mexico in Cuautla, Morelos which serves as a museum; the Museo de las Ferrocarilles en Yucatán is in Mérida, Yucatán; and the National Railway Museum in Puebla, Puebla.

Railway links with adjacent countries

• United States – yes - same gauge 1435mm (4 ft 8½ in)
• Guatemala – yes – break-of-gauge gauge 1435mm (4 ft 8½ in)/914 mm (3 ft)  (Currently inactive or not in use)
• FERISTSA railway was proposed, which would connect Mexico with Panama

See also

• List of Mexican railroads
• Transportation in Mexico

External links

• The Mexican Railways
• History of Mexico's Railroads (in Spanish)
• The Railroads of Mexico by Fred Wilbur Powell on Google Books
• Ferrocarril Coahuila Durango
• Ferromex
• Ferrosur
• Kansas City Southern
• Ferrocarril Y Terminal Del Valle De Mexico
• Mexican government: Secretary of Communication & Transport