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When we told you all those articles back that we’re living through some sort of Mexican Railway Renaissance where anything could happen, we weren’t joking, y’all:
After the launch of the Maya Train, traveling on a loop around the Yucatán Peninsula, and other equally-promising infrastructure projects, like the recently-revamped Tren Interoceánico, it’s finally time for U.S.-Mexico train to hit the tracks.
Mind you, this is not another one of those politician pipe dreams that will be years in the making, either: demand for better land-side connectivity between two of North America’s greatest economies is huge, and construction has already started.
Soon enough, you’ll be able to travel from the U.S. border all the way to Mexico City! Here’s everything we know so far:
From Texas To Mexico City, No Changes
As part of Plan Mexico, a country-wide infrastructure project that seeks to establish or reactivate railway lines across much of the national territory, the Federal Government has recently green-lit a passenger train that will run from Nuevo Laredo, on the U.S.-Mexico border, to the Mexican capital.
There have always been trains running from the United States into Mexico, however, most of these were carried cargo, so this is major news for tourists, particularly Texas residents, who have often relied on private transportation, or unreliable local buses to get them over the border.
Contrary to the Maya Train, which took years to leave the drawing board before launching fully in 2023, this one isn’t plagued by the same setbacks: as a matter of fact, construction is due to start already next month, in July 2025.
Is This The Aztec Eagle 2.0?
It’s important to note that, while the project is being promoted as a cross-border achievement, the train is actually set to have its terminus at Nuevo Laredo, a border city sitting opposite of Laredo, in Texas, though getting from one side to the other usually takes about 15 minutes with a car.
It is the first such train to be announced since U.S.-Mexico railway links were phased out at the end of the 20th-century, and in many ways, it is the revival of the historic Aztec Eagle, which operated from 1948 until 1997, and also used to run between Nuevo Laredo and Mexico City.
Up to 1969, it even used to extend into the United States, reaching as far as San Antonio, and connecting with the Missouri Pacific Railroad’s Texas Eagle, known for traveling all the way to St. Louis, but that’s something for the future, perhaps.
Where Will The Train Stop?
The promising part is that, seeing that the Aztec Eagle already existed at some point, many of the tracks have already been laid, unlike the Maya Train, whose railway length had to be built from scratch.
That being said, it’s not like there isn’t work to be done, with the existing infrastructure being long overdue for modernization, and we’re pretty sure the developers behind this would be interested in upgrading the Aztec Eagle’s amenities (could we hope for dining cars and observation lounges, maybe?)
That’s all guesswork, however: for now, all we know is that the trains will leave from Mexico City, and travel via Hidalgo, the State of Mexico, Querétaro, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas, before calling at Nuevo Laredo.
That’s a whopping 1,864 miles of rail planned, and once completed, it will be one of the most extensive in the country, and North America as a whole.
Is This Just Another Freight-Service-Turned-Passenger-Train?
Short answer, no!
The most important thing to note is that this is not another opportunistic attempt by private companies to add seats to 3 or 4 carriages part of larger, painfully-slower freight trains, and have them double as a passenger service:
According to El Cronista, this will be a dedicated service, operated solely by intercity and regional trains, without interference from freight trains.
Additionally, the AIFA-Pachuca session, linking the Felipe Ángeles International Airport to the capital city of the state of Hidalgo, will have ‘electric propulsion via overhead lines’, contributing to higher speed.
The remaining sections, such as Mexico City-Querétaro, already formally announced previously, Querétaro-Irapuato, and finally, Saltillo-Nuevo Laredo, will operate on diesel and electric-based technologies.
This Is When The Train Will Launch
In the words of Andrés Lajous Loaeza, head of Mexico’s Railway Transport Regulatory Agency (ARTF), this route will respond to high passenger demand, particularly in rapidly growing areas like Ramos Arizpe and Derramadero, and offer tourists alternative means of traveling to Mexico.
Most pressingly, it will boost U.S. connections to Monterrey, a thriving financial hub, and one of the planned stops when the train travels through the state of Nuevo León.
As you might have noticed, Mexico City is not the only attraction on this route: there’s a host of other equally gorgeous colonial-era cities that will soon be a direct train ride away from the Texas border, including the UNESCO-listed Guanajuato and Querétaro.
It’s not like we’ll have to wait decades to see the Aztec Eagle 2.0 back on the road, either. Mind you, we still don’t know what the train’s called; this is merely a tentative title.
Construction of the Mexico City-Pachuca and Mexico City-Querétaro sections is already underway, and tenders for two other sections, Querétaro-Irapuato and Saltillo-Nuevo Laredo, will be submitted this June.
You may be wondering, so when will this mega-project see the light of day? With 80 billion pesos being poured in, or the equivalent to 4.16 billion U.S. dollars at the current exchange rate, the first sections should be completed in 2027, followed by the remaining ones in 2028.
Not long to go, folks! Not long at all.
Vinicius Costa
Vini, our senior lead writer at Travel Off Path, has over 60+ countries under his belt (and currently weaving tales from Paris!), and a knack for turning off-the-beaten-path experiences into informative stories that will have you packing your bags.
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