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  • Mexico eyes high speed rail

  • Discussion concerning Mexico's Class I railroad, and other Mexican rail operations. Official web-site: https://www.ferromex.com.mx/index-eng.jsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
    KSC Mexican operations should remain in the KCS forum.
Discussion concerning Mexico's Class I railroad, and other Mexican rail operations. Official web-site: https://www.ferromex.com.mx/index-eng.jsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
KSC Mexican operations should remain in the KCS forum.

Moderator: Jeff Smith

 #477623  by David Benton
 
your welcome to start your own thread here , roger , asking that question .
they ha started working on a higher speed line out form mexico city when i was there in the late eighties . form what ic ould see of it , it looked like they were trying to spend as much money as possible in as few miles .
They had concrete bridges where the line was only a few metres off the ground , and the bridges had concrete side panels . i.e they looked like motorway structures . i quess they were designed by road orientated engineers . It was electrified too . whether it made it into use before passenger trains were abolished , i dony know

 #477768  by Komachi
 
Interesting to see where the project goes from here and if it comes to fruition (the plan to put the NdeM under wire springs to mind).


Roger,

This is the Worldwide Forum and discussion of Mexican railroads does, indeed fall under this category, so I, like David, have no issue with your question about the MILW cabooses going to the NdeM. You may start a new thread about it here, although I think you may have better luck in the Canadian Pacific forum, as the the Soo Line (a CP subsidiary) took control of the Milwaukee in '85.

In either case, I hope you find what you're looking for.


Now back to the discussion of Mexico's High Speed Rail Project, already in progress...

 #477825  by george matthews
 
I wonder if they have French engineers? Latin American rail projects often use French expertise, especially for metros. And of course Montreal has a typical French style Metro.
Now they can get Spanish engineers from the AVR network.

 #477901  by David Benton
 
dont know , George , but it seemed typical of many of the projects i saw in my travels of developing countries . Grand scale construction totally out of scale with the surroundings , suddenly stopping where the money run out . Typical would be to have a four lane highway going out of a city , , then in a mile or 2 reverting to a dirt track .

 #477926  by george matthews
 
I have heard that Lima had a metro that was in a suspended state of construction for years. I vaguely think that one line might have opened now.

 #478140  by george matthews
 
At least one line has been open for some time. There's an entertaining description of it in Tahir Shah - Sorcerer's Apprentice. One of the many "businesses" in Calcutta was holding wedding receptions in the air conditioned stations.

 #478489  by caboose9
 
Now back to the discussion of Mexico's High Speed Rail Project, already in progress... Roger, over & out

 #481578  by Komachi
 
Meanderings can be a nice break every now and then. Also lets some of us who don't get out of the country much experience the rest of the world vicariously through others' experiences. Not to mention what to experience in some of the more dynamic countries of the world.

Imagine alighting from a train in New York and stumbling upon a weding/reception in progress!


But getting back to the discussion of Mexico...

Just how far along are they at this point, what are the dreams and schemes and what, for the most part, will be the reality? Just wondering.
 #847329  by superbad
 
supposedly a high speed (300km/h) rail line is set to open from mexico city to guadalajara in 2011.. can anyone confirm this I am not finding an official website.. also a line from mexico city to the yucatan?

http://www.articlealley.com/article_1717563_33.html this like is not directly related to the above.. can anyone provide some inmformation.. according to wikipedia the like from mexico city to guadalajara is is under construction right now...
 #847343  by DutchRailnut
 
With Mexico hardly having any passenger service , I or Others would have seen mention of such a project, either in Railrioad press or international contracts, I have not, maybe someone else has, but specially with a completion date in one year I deem the story doubtfull
 #847392  by superbad
 
there are press releases some from 2002 and some from 2006.. and I agree, if such a project was actually going on, we would have probably heard about it by now.. but maybe not.. i have done searches and spanish and english and I am not coming up with much. mexico discontinued passenger rail with the privitization of freight lines in 1998... basically there is talk of a nationwide network.. and given that they built a freeway system in 10 years, I assume they would spend the money on rail too..

here is one article from 2006.. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... ain06.html

I just learned the name of the project is 'tren bala mexico'

http://martcano.blogspot.com/2005/11/tr ... ajara.html

i still have not seen any recent news on rail industry website....
 #847393  by electricron
 
From the earlier supplied link for the Yucatan:
"The first phase of the train will link Merida to Chichen Itza, strengthening Merida's role as a 'gateway' to this popular pyramid site. One source reported that the speed of the train would be about 130 km/h which is about 80 miles; while this is not a very high speed, the direct routes, and stops only at the sites to be visited will make for faster travel times."

That's the maximum speed of Amtrak everywhere in America except NEC, specific stretches in Michigan, and specific stretches in Southern California. I wouldn't necessarily call 80 mph high speed rail.

A train from the Progresso port to Merida and onto Chichen Itza would be supported by cruise ship tourists, much like the Alaska RR and White Pass RR. A train ride, even at 80 mph, will be a faster and smoother ride into the jungle and tourist locations.

From the link supplied for Guadalajara: (translated by Babel Fish)
"According to the results obtained by the French company Systra, which had to its position the accomplishment of the studies to establish the bases for the licitation of the Train Bullet, the cost of this megaproyecto will be of approximately 12 billions of dollars, whose call for its licitation will be of international character. The cost of the studies of the Systra company, that include their consultant's office for the licitation, was of two million dollars."

Meaning a study for viability was performed, but that doesn't mean it will be built. $12 Billion is a lot of money, even in Mexico. SCNF has also made viability studies for 220 mph+ high speed rail trains for Illinois and Texas, yet no detail design, plan, or construction have started.