Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) has agreed to support a study to host a regional/commuter passenger train service in Monterrey, Mexico. Monterrey, which has a small light rail system, is the capital of Nuevo Leon, the state that borders the U.S. The proposed service is a 46.6-mile rail corridor on CPKC’s B Line, with 26 stations between the Monterrey Metropolitan Area and the municipality of Pesqueria, to the south. It would connect with the city’s light rail, Sistema de Transporte Colectivo Metrorrey. Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) announced Nov. 8 that he will “require private rail companies that mostly carry freight to offer passenger service or else have the government schedule its own trains on their tracks,” according to an Associated Press (AP) report. AMLO officially opened the first 294-mile (473-km) section of the Mayan Train project from San Francisco de Campeche to Cancun Airport on Dec. 15, just five years since work on the project commenced and three-and-a-half since the start of construction. Editor’s Note: News reports, including those published by global media outlets like Reuters, have mistakenly referred to the proposed passenger rail service as “a CPKC project.” It is not, and the chances of this project going beyond the study stage are remote. I’m told it’s largely a political exercise. And bear in mind that, without major infrastructure upgrades, just one passenger train can eat up the capacity required to operate several freight trains—kind of like entering a bus in a Formula 1 race. – William C. Vantuono The post Monterrey to Explore Passenger Rail appeared first on Railway Age. Continue reading...
