Mexico City Reports Cost Savings for Mexico-Toluca Train

The government of Mexico City announced it avoided incurring a cost overrun of over US$511 million for the Mexico-Toluca Interurban Train, a key mobility project that the federal government aims to restart and deliver next year. 

Mexico City’s Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said that her administration avoided the cost overrun in Section 3 of the project, which was granted to Mexico City. Sheinbaum said that Mexico City was able to do so by withdrawing the concession from the previous developer, CAABSA Constructora, and granting it to 11 different companies. 

According to Sheinbaum, this altered the project, especially at the Santa Fe viaduct, as well as in the Observatorio and Santa Fe stations. Sheinbaum did not specify what these changes were but said that these modifications required less material and resources.

Sheinbaum stressed that the Interurban Train is an inherited project from Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration and said that the problems with Section 3 started back then. “Section 3 was being developed by Mexico City, after that, it was handed over to the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT), which led to several administrative problems. Finally, the government handed it back to us,” she added. 

In 2014, CAABSA won the tender launched by Mexico City to construct Section 3. However, according to Sheinbaum, when the government announced the winner, the company modified the project and caused a cost hike.  Nonetheless, she said that owing to the work done by the new companies, the project reports a progress of 25 percent, which is within the deadline the federal government set. The train section is expected to be ready in December 2023. 

Among the most important stations in terms of complexity is the Observatorio station, which will be upgraded to interconnect with the Metro’s lines 1 and 12, which the government intends to expand as well. 

Sheinbaum’s statement comes after President López Obrador paid a visit to supervise the construction works of the Suburban Train, accompanied by the Governor of the State of Mexico, Alfredo del Mazo. “We are doing great at the construction of the Toluca-Mexico train. Governor Alfredo del Mazo and Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, federal officers and companies are working on this project,” López Obrador said on social media while promising to deliver the project in December 2023.