Mexico to invest US$38.6bn in road, rail infrastructure in 2022

Mexico's public and private sectors will invest at least 768bn pesos (US$38.6bn) in road and rail infrastructure in 2022, according to the infrastructure, communications and transport ministry (SICT).

Infrastructure undersecretary Jorge Nuño Lara said that the money will be used to build and modernize railways, highways and bridges, as well as to improve road safety measures.

During the transformative infrastructure forum carried out in the national infrastructure week event organized by Mexico's chamber of congress, Nuño said that the bulk of this amount, or 690bn pesos, will be spent on 15 rail projects. 

Six of these projects are already under construction, including the Maya Train, the suburban train expansion to connect Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) and the rehabilitation of the Media Aguas-Salina Cruz freight rail line on the Tehuantepec Isthmus transoceanic corridor, among others. 

Works on some of the other initiatives are about to begin, including the Mexico City-Querétaro-León train, the Durango-Mazatlán railroad, the Monterrey-San Antonio high-speed train and the Guadalajara-Aguascalientes line. Five other developments are in the assessment phase, including a branch line on the rail system between the ongoing Tehuantepec isthmus rail corridor project and Chiapas state to the Dos Bocas refinery. 

With regards to roadworks, Nuño said that the investments outlined include five major projects that cost 16.2bn pesos, such as the Acapulco-Huatulco highway and the Ventosa-Acayucan highway. 

Also included is a program to modernize and upgrade rural roads, which entails 12 projects costing 10.4bn pesos, as well as a 17.3bn-peso plan to carry out works on municipal roads.