New Monterrey Metro Lines To Tackle Decades of Slow Development

In five years, the construction of lines 4, 5 and 6 of the Metrorrey system will counter 40 years of intermittently lagging development of transportation infrastructure for Monterrey’s Metropolitan area, said a report by a consultancy firm.

According to the Mexico-based consultant Transconsult, the decision of the government of Nuevo Leon to develop more lines for the metro system is a clever and daring choice, since the firm considers that it took over 40 years for the city of Monterrey to develop three lines with 40km of rail and 40 stations in total. This delayed development affected citizens, who got used to a small transportation system that did not take them where they actually needed to go. "We have a big dream, to gain the mobility we should always have… in six years we will develop more metros, stations and kilometers than what has been constructed in 34 years, since Metrorrey was created in 1987," said the Governor of Nuevo Leon, Samuel García, during the project's presentation.  

Transconsult quoted data from the National Housing Inventory (INV) of 2016 that showed that only 14 percent of the houses in Monterrey’s metropolitan area were located within a ratio of 800m from a station of structured public transportation means. The company said that this is a consequence of developing infrastructure focused on private transportation. According to the company, between 2001 and 2017, over 81 percent of investment in mobility and transport infrastructure was used for road and car-centered infrastructure, while the remaining 19 percent was divided to develop public spaces and cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. 

The company said that a project of such scale might raise some questions but assured that the proposed three lines, which will boast 37.5km in length and 28 stations, are a key project that will transform Monterrey. "The proposed system is not a subsistence system but a dignified and attractive one. These three lines will help to structure a mobility system that could be supported by the 800 buses the government has recently bought," Transconsult stated. 

On Sep. 15, 2022, the state government reported that during the tender for the construction of the three lines, the consortium conformed by Mota Engil and CRRC Corporation was the only one that remained with an economic proposal for US$1.4 billion.

According to state authorities, they have not decided if Line 5 will be constructed with an elevated viaduct in the section that crosses Eugenio Garza Sada avenue. For this purpose, they will carry out a consultation process among the inhabitants of the affected area.