Brugada Proposes Connecting Vallejo Industrial Zone With AIFA

Clara Brugada, MORENA candidate for Mexico City's mayorship, proposed the installation of a freight train corridor connecting the Pical-Pantaco industrial park with the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA). This proposal builds on the connectivity plan initially put forward by former mayor Claudia Sheinbaum in the Vallejo-I Master Plan.

Brugada's proposal is not included in the Government Plan available on her website. However, it revives a project initially proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador during the construction of AIFA: to provide the infrastructure and incentive for cargo flights to relocate from the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) to the new airport, reports Animal Político. "We aim to establish the Vallejo team, which will pick up the plan that was developed and continue this crucial task of technological-industrial development," Brugada said. This project will be part of Brugada’s "Industrial City, Innovative City" plan, which focuses on fostering growth in the northern industrial area of the city.

The proposed freight train would complement the connectivity plan envisioned by Sheinbaum in her Vallejo-I Master Plan, which aims to develop industry and provide housing for workers in the area. "We can enhance Pantaco as the Pantaco-AIFA railway corridor, which will increase cargo volumes, reorganize and drive development in this city area, and restructure trade in a metropolitan manner,” Brugada highlighted.

According to a map of the Mexican Railway System, updated by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation (SICT) in 2023, infrastructure already exists for a railway corridor connecting AIFA with the Pantaco and Vallejo industrial zone, operated by the concessionaire Ferrovalle. Pantaco also has connectivity with cities and ports such as Manzanillo, Lazaro Cardenas, Veracruz, Nuevo Laredo, Mexicali, Piedras Negras, Puebla, Torreon, Monterrey, and Irapuato.

Brugada also proposed making Pantaco and Vallejo a Latin American reference in technology and AI. She stated that strategic alliances between universities and the business sector would be formed to offer continuous training programs. Additionally, thousands of young people would be trained and certified to carry out internships in the area. "We will direct the city's credits and subsidies to entrepreneurship projects aligned with industrial development policies," she added.

According to the Ministry of Economy (SE), Azcapotzalco attracted foreign direct investment of US$11.19 billion in 2023. The Mexico City government previously reported that in 2019, this area contributed 4.7% to the national manufacturing GDP.