by D.S. Lewith
Mexico used to have regular intercity passenger rail until the late 1990s, when NdeM was privatized and its tracks were sold to other railways (mostly to Ferromex and Kansas City Southern de México)
Barring the tourist trains, as of current, the only existing passenger rail service is the Tren Suburbano (which is being expanded with two new lines), which is reusing a one-electrified railroad that ran between Mexico City and Querétaro. There is only one other passenger railway being constructed: the Mexico City-Toluca train, which is using a completely new ROW, though it is not connected to Buenavista station (instead terminating at Metro Observatario). There is also the proposed Mayan Train, though that has not gone without controversy (most notably from the EZLN).
Should (at the very least) the Mexico City-Toluca train prove to be successful, then there could be a push to restore intercity passenger rail. I do expect that these passenger trains would be operated by an equivalent to USA's Amtrak and Canada's VIA Rail. As for the rail itself, virtually all of the rail is owned by three private rail companies (Kansas City Southern de Mexico, Ferromex, Ferrosur). It's unknown what the asking price would be from these three railroads but they probably may not be so willing to invite passenger rail on their tracks compared to their American and Canadian counterparts. Furthermore, much of the tracks are winding legacy tracks that may not support even 90 miles per hour, thus requiring a new set of tracks to be built.
Very likely the first segment would be Mexico City-Santiago de Querétaro (this was the line that was electrified before it was de-energized following privatization) and building a rail line to link Metro Observatorio (the Mexico City-Toluca train's eastern terminus) with the Buenavista station (thus unifying it with the Tren Suburbano) before extending the Mexico City-Santiago de Querétaro line to San Luis Potosí (as well as building a new Guadalajara-San Luis Potosí line and a new Guadalajara-Mexico City line).
Barring the tourist trains, as of current, the only existing passenger rail service is the Tren Suburbano (which is being expanded with two new lines), which is reusing a one-electrified railroad that ran between Mexico City and Querétaro. There is only one other passenger railway being constructed: the Mexico City-Toluca train, which is using a completely new ROW, though it is not connected to Buenavista station (instead terminating at Metro Observatario). There is also the proposed Mayan Train, though that has not gone without controversy (most notably from the EZLN).
Should (at the very least) the Mexico City-Toluca train prove to be successful, then there could be a push to restore intercity passenger rail. I do expect that these passenger trains would be operated by an equivalent to USA's Amtrak and Canada's VIA Rail. As for the rail itself, virtually all of the rail is owned by three private rail companies (Kansas City Southern de Mexico, Ferromex, Ferrosur). It's unknown what the asking price would be from these three railroads but they probably may not be so willing to invite passenger rail on their tracks compared to their American and Canadian counterparts. Furthermore, much of the tracks are winding legacy tracks that may not support even 90 miles per hour, thus requiring a new set of tracks to be built.
Very likely the first segment would be Mexico City-Santiago de Querétaro (this was the line that was electrified before it was de-energized following privatization) and building a rail line to link Metro Observatorio (the Mexico City-Toluca train's eastern terminus) with the Buenavista station (thus unifying it with the Tren Suburbano) before extending the Mexico City-Santiago de Querétaro line to San Luis Potosí (as well as building a new Guadalajara-San Luis Potosí line and a new Guadalajara-Mexico City line).
