Chalco-Santa Marta Trolleybus to Be Ready in July

During an open council, the government of the Chalco municipality said that the Chalco-Santa Marta Trolleybus construction, aiming to connect Chalco with Mexico City via Iztapalapa, would be completed in July 2023. The project is one of the latest efforts to improve connectivity in the East metropolitan area. 

According to Chalco Mayor, Miguel Gutiérrez, and Siclair Madero, Director of Planning, Projects and Construction, the State of Mexico’s Massive Transport and Cable Car System, the Chalco-Santa Marta Line, will be delivered in July, benefiting over 120,000 users in the initial phase and 230,000 users at its maximum capacity.

Gutiérrez said the trolleybus would be a zero-emission and low-noise polluting system. The project consists of an exclusive 18.5km length lane, featuring 15 stations from Chalco to Santa Marta. It will also connect with other Mexico City transportation systems like the elevated trolleybus, Cablebús and Metro’s Line A.

The Chalco-Santa Marta Trolleybus is expected to have 108 articulated units, which could grow to 194 if it reaches maximum capacity. Gutiérrez promised that units would pass at one-minute intervals. 

The project will include an elevated section that extends from Santa Marta station to two other stations, providing a connection to the central section of the Mexico-Puebla highway. From this point, the project will cross  Solidaridad avenue to get to the Mexico-Cuatla highway where the terminal station and Trolleybus workshops will be located. 

During the open council, inhabitants of Chalco asked to include bicycle lanes, parking lots, pedestrian-friendly infrastructure and information campaigns to notify the population about the modification in transport routes. 

Madero said that despite the increasing inflation, the project will maintain its originally reported costs since the developers acquired all the required steel at the beginning of the project. He also said that construction works reported 40% progress. According to state authorities, the construction of the project will be completely carried out by the State of Mexico and once concluded, Mexico City will be in charge of the operation. 

The State of Mexico, under the leadership of Alfredo del Mazo, has worked closely with Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum to develop transport infrastructure to connect both entities. On Sept. 30, 2022, MBN reported that the State of Mexico spent MX$3.7 billion (US$274.1 million) of its authorized debt for the development of the Chalco-Santa Marta Trolleybus, which represented 60% of its total authorized debt for 2022.