Jalisco to Build Line 4 of Light Rail

On May 15, Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro announced that the construction works of Line 4 of the state’s Light Rail System would start the following week. The project will connect Guadalajara City with the Tlajomulco municipality.

Last week, president López Obrador committed to investing over US$400 million in Line 4 and the El Zapotillo storage dam. The president signed a letter of commitment where he specified that around US$100 million would go to the construction of Line 4. The government of Jalisco will invest an additional US$100 million and the private sector will participate with US$250 million, bringing the total funding to US$450, which will be channeled through the National Fund for Infrastructure (FONADIN).

“FONADIN will program the resources, but the [local] Congress has to authorize the unsolicited tender process, which is the financing mechanism we agreed to with the federal government,” Alfaro explained. 

Alfaro added that works will start with using Jalisco’s own resources, which means the state will take on debt until the federal funds will be implemented during Aug. or Sept. 2022. He mentioned that the project will be inaugurated by 1Q24 and it will have a  length of 21km. 

The participation of private companies would not affect the cost for end users, said Alfaro. Nevertheless, he mentioned that investors would gain returns via fee, though it remains to be defined who will absorb that cost once the train is operating. The tender for private participation must be issued by Jun. 2022, as well as agreements regarding the rail’s right-of-way and work schedules. Rolando Valle, Former Head, the Guadalajara Electric Urban Train System, was appointed to supervise the progress of the works. The local Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works (SIOP) considers the project a priority since it faced delays due to lacking federal resources.

Line 4 is expected to move over 200,000 people a day. The light ain will connect the municipality of Tlajomulco de Zuñiga with the City of Guadalajara and will have eight stations, as well as a link with Line 1 and the Mi Macro Periferico project, which was recently inaugurated. It will be a ground-level project and will travel in parallel with a Ferromex railway. Last year, Ferromex reached an agreement with the Ministry of Communications and Transportation (SICT) to transfer part of its right-of-way to the Line 4 project.