López Obrador Reaches Agreement with Suburban Train’s Opposers

President López Obrador announced he has reached an agreement with those opposing the Suburban Train’s expansion, which aims to connect Mexico City with Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA). The agreement was reached after talks with municipal authorities and locals.

The president said that he gained the support of Tultepec and Tultitlan’s inhabitants, who previously opposed the construction of the Interurban Train, blaming the project for dividing them physically. Therefore, they asked the government to modify the route with an elevated viaduct or different direction.

López Obrador said that in the past week, he met with five local mayors of the State of Mexico that are affected by the project and are located near AIFA. He said that he authorized an additional investment for complementary works, but he did not give details regarding what kind of support he will give to the inhabitants or the amount of the investment that is to be spent. 

The president thanked the local authorities and inhabitants for their support. “It means an additional investment, we have it now and I hope [the inhabitants] support us. They should know that this is a non-profit project and is not furthering any company. This is a public project that benefits everyone, we all are owners of public works,” López Obrador added. 

On June 19, 2022, MBN reported that the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT) announced the expropriation of over 5.2ha of land in Tultitlan and Tultepec, which the ministry considered to be essential for the construction, conservation and maintenance of a cargo operation area, as well as for the expansion of the Suburban Train.

The project has faced the Superior Auditor of the Federation’s (ASF) audits, which stated that the project reported a possible resource mishandling and deficient planning, which caused a delay of more than 120 days. The federal government and Ferrocarriles Suburbanos, the railroad concessionaire, foresaw an investment of over US$1.2 billion, of which Ferrocarriles Suburbanos would participate with US$733.7 million. The resources would have been obtained through a development bank, but on May 27, 2022, Manuel Parra, Director General for Railway and Multimodal Transport, SICT, declared the credit could not be obtained, a year after the works began. 

The Suburban Train expansion aims to reduce transportation times and costs for those traveling to AIFA. It will cross the Tultitlan, Tultepec, Nextlalpan, Zumpango and Tecamac municipalities.