MEXICO CITY — The Mexican Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation and the state of Nuevo Leon have reached an agreement with Canadian Pacific Kansas City Southern de Mexico to study commuter service in the Monterrey area.
CPKC de Mexico has committed to providing information to the government agencies, a railway spokesman said today.
Mexican officials are proposing that the Monterrey Suburban Train will include 26 stations on a 46.6-mile corridor between Monterrey and Pesqueria, according to an item published this week in the government’s official gazette.
CPKC CEO Keith Creel and former KCS CEO Pat Ottensmeyer, who is serving as an advisor on Mexico issues, met with Mexican President Andrés Manuel 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 last month. “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.”
“As required by our concession, CPKC de México will work closely with the Mexican Federal Government to evaluate passenger service on that corridor,” CPKC has 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.”
Hate to break it to you, but this IS the government getting involved. Mexico is a decentralized state, but the central government (and by extension the President) has a LOT of power.
Honestly, I dont know why I read the comments anymore. All ya’ll do is whine and complain.
You mean they didn’t spend a decade and multiple million dollar grants for studies and reports that lead to nothing?! Amazing what can happen if you just pick up the phone without getting government involved!
Don’t tell Metra that CPKC cooperates on commuter rail in other jurisdictions.