EU financing studies for light rail project in central Mexico

The European Union is financing pre-investment studies to build a light rail link from Mexico state to Mexico City, the federal government reported. 

According to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's latest state of the nation report, recently delivered by interior minister Luisa María Alcalde to the lower chamber of congress, the line would go from Naucalpan in Mexico state to the Buenavista district of the capital, where a station for suburban trains already operates. 

“The European Union is financing the pre-investment studies, and support was provided to the government of Mexico state, in the coordination [efforts] to carry out the studies,” the infrastructure, communications and transport ministry (SICT) says in the document.

SICT also said the studies will be finished in the first half of 2025 and that rail transport is “competitive, modern and safe. Hence, during this administration efforts were stepped up to strengthen rail infrastructure in southeastern and central Mexico.”

According to the ministry, the Celaya and Monterrey rail projects are 90% and 95% complete, respectively, and the suburban branch that will connect Felipe Ángeles international airport (AIFA) with Mexico City is 73% finished. The Mexico City-Toluca interurban train is 92% complete, the ministry adds.