CALGARY — Canadian Pacific Kansas City says it has agreed to study passenger service on part of its freight network in Mexico, and is reviewing a draft decree by the Mexican government regarding passenger train operations.
Reuters reports that companies holding Mexicos’s freight rail concessions — including CPKC de Mexico and Grupo Mexico’s Ferromex, in which Union Pacific holds a minority stake — will have until Jan. 15 to submit proposals on how they will handle passenger service, based on a draft version of the decree published on a government website.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said earlier this month that the concession holders would either have to operate passenger trains themselves or open their tracks to government-run service [see “Mexican president says he will require …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 9, 2023].
CPKC said in a statement that said it “remains directly engaged with the Mexican federal government regarding potential passenger rail service on certain existing freight rail corridors.”
CPKC CEO Keith Creel and former KCS CEO Pat Ottensmeyer, who is serving as an advisor on Mexico issues, met with López Obrador earlier this year to discuss how the merged railway can help boost Mexico’s economy.
The president noted that he wanted to launch passenger service from Mexico City to the north to help ease highway traffic congestion. CPKC agreed to fund a third-party capacity study that will show what improvements might be necessary to provide reliable passenger service and protect the flow of freight in the high-growth corridor between Nuevo Laredo and Mexico City.
“We’re going to work with the government of Mexico,” Creel told the RailTrends conference this week. “If we can be part of the solution and help them realize their aspirations, protect freight, and provide for passenger, we’re going to do it.”
CPKC said in its statement that the draft decree, expected to become effective by Nov. 20, also identifies the San Luis Potosí-Monterrey-Laredo corridor for proposed passenger rail service. “As required by our concession, CPKC de México will work closely with the Mexican Federal Government to evaluate passenger service on that corridor,” the railroad said. “The draft decree emphasizes that the public freight rail service will be respected and as such, we do not expect an adverse impact on our concession. CPKC has extensive experience hosting passenger rail services in multiple locations across its network in the United States and Canada while efficiently managing freight service.”
— Trains correspondent Bill Stephens contributed to this report.
“CPKC agreed to fund a third-party capacity study that will show what improvements might be necessary to provide reliable passenger service and protect the flow of freight in the high-growth corridor between Nuevo Laredo and Mexico City.”
Yeah, as long as Mexico funds all the other expenses like upgrading the track to handle passenger service. We know how CPkc feels about that side of passenger rail…
“…or on their “Beasts” ” Catenary would put an end to that.
Sam Prest Until Trump is Elected Those Passenger Trains couldn’t Get Them Back to Mexico Fast Enough Lmao 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Naw, that won’t happen until the Harris/Buttegieg administration.
Mexitrak. Why not? Mexico already has some Amfleet equipment. Maybe a through train to Dallas.
Wouldn’t be funny if the study says passenger service is more needed to Piedras Negras than Laredo? I mean after all, CPKC is helping to pay for it. Let the study come out on April 1, 2024, just to tweak UP and BNSF nose. No sense of humor eh?
Does this mean that CPKC and Ferromex, and other cross-border carriers; will now charge the immigrants to ride in or on their “Beasts” ( ?) up to the border?
To catch a bus into USA? WE may be witnessing the creation of a Mexican version if AMTRAK, Possibly, ‘Mexitrak’ ?