Mexico, State of Mexico Plan Growth Around New Rail Stations

Mexico and the State of Mexico will develop territorial planning studies around four new passenger rail stations to align urban growth, mobility, and public services along the AIFA-Pachuca and Mexico City-Queretaro corridors.

Mexico’s federal government and the State of Mexico signed an agreement to guide urban development around four stations on the Mexico-Pachuca “Felipe Ángeles” and Mexico City-Queretaro passenger rail corridors.

The agreement brings together the Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development (SEDATU), the State of Mexico’s Ministry of Urban Development and Infrastructure (SEDUI), and the municipal governments of Coyotepec, Huehuetoca, Tecamac, and Temascalapa. The parties will develop territorial planning and land-management studies to assess the impact of the new infrastructure and define development scenarios around the stations.

The initiative covers San Lucas Xolox, Empalme del Rey, Huitzila, and Huehuetoca stations, all located within the State of Mexico. Authorities say the objective is to promote safer, more accessible, and sustainable station areas while ensuring a more equitable distribution of the obligations and benefits resulting from rail development.

Integrating Rail Infrastructure With Urban Growth

The agreement ensures that new corridors are accompanied by coordinated land-use policies, local mobility planning, and basic urban services.

Carlos Maza, Head, SEDUI, says that projects such as passenger trains and airports require strategic urban planning because of their regional impact. The AIFA-Pachuca and Mexico City-Queretaro corridors are expected to reshape mobility patterns and create new development pressures in municipalities along their routes.

Under the agreement, federal, state, and municipal authorities will identify territorial needs, regulatory requirements, and prospective urban impacts linked to the rail projects. The studies are intended to provide a technical, legal, and administrative basis for managing growth in the areas surrounding the stations.

Martha Pérez, Director General of Territorial and Urban Planning, SEDATU, signed the agreement on behalf of José Alfonso Iracheta, Deputy Minister of Territorial, Urban, and Housing Planning. 

Mayor of Coyotepec Marisol Luna and Mayor of Huehuetoca Juan Manuel López participated in the signing, while Tecamac was also represented. The inclusion of local governments is significant because municipal authorities are responsible for many of the zoning, permitting, and public-service decisions that will determine how station districts evolve. The four participating municipalities are expected to coordinate with SEDATU and SEDUI on land-management strategies, infrastructure needs, and future urban-development scenarios.

Authorities described the initiative as an effort to prevent unplanned expansion and to maximize the economic and social benefits of rail investment. The focus on land management suggests that the agreement could help local governments anticipate demand for housing, commercial activity, road connections, public space, and mobility services near the new stations.

The effort is part of Plan México, the federal government’s strategy for equitable and sustainable economic development. In this context, the agreement positions passenger rail not only as a transport project but also as a tool for regional planning and local development.

The new planning agreement follows a broader framework for coordination in the State of Mexico. The state’s official legal archive includes a separate agreement involving the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation, the State of Mexico, and 14 municipalities to support the release of rights of way for the AIFA-Pachuca and Mexico City-Queretaro rail projects.

That framework includes municipalities such as Zumpango, Tecamac, Nextlalpan, Temascalapa, Tlalnepantla, Cuautitlan Izcalli, Cuautitlan, Tultitlan, Soyaniquilpan, Teoloyucan, Polotitlan, Jilotepec, Coyotepec, and Huehuetoca.

While the right-of-way agreement addresses the territorial requirements for constructing the corridors, the latest SEDATU-SEDUI accord focuses on what happens around the stations once rail infrastructure is introduced. Together, the two efforts show that the projects require coordination beyond construction, including land acquisition, municipal planning and the integration of new transport infrastructure into surrounding communities.