El Tapatío, Mexico's Iconic Train Dreams of a Comeback
Mexico's iconic El Tapatío train might chug back soon! Private companies eye reviving classic routes, with El Tapatío connecting Mexico City and Guadalajara in Pullman luxury. President AMLO champions rail revival, but feasibility studies and construction could delay the grand return.
El Tapatío. The name evokes sepia-toned nostalgia, the clickety-clack of progress, and the clinking of martini glasses in a bygone era. For two glorious decades, this Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (FNM) starlet whisked passengers from the bustling capital to Guadalajara, the “pearl of the west,” in plush Pullman elegance. But like a lovelorn señorita jilted by the fickle winds of privatization, El Tapatío faded into the sunset in the 1990s.
But fret not, amigos! Just like that mariachi band playing a surprise encore, it seems El Tapatío might be waltzing back onto the platform. Our man in infrastructure, Jorge Nuño Lara, is dropping hints like rose petals, saying Ferrosur, Canadian Pacific, and Kansas City are all vying for a dance with our steel-wheeled señorita.
Remember those Pullman cars? Four snoozing slaapkamers, a dining car fit for a telenovela heartthrob, and a bar-observatory where martinis flowed like tequila tears. Ah, the sweet scent of exclusivity! While the rest of Mexico jostled in 90 intermediate stations, El Tapatío sashayed past like a condesa at a fiesta, arriving in Guadalajara as fresh as a margarita on ice.
But alas, the 1990s brought economic woes, and El Tapatío, like countless dreamers, was sacrificed on the altar of privatization. Enter our current Don Quixote, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, tilting at the windmills of neglect. He wants to see all the classic routes – El Tapatío, El Purépecha, El Regiomontano, El Constitucionalista, El Tamaulipeco, El Jarocho, the whole telenovela cast – chugging back to life.
Last January, he threw some shade at his predecessor, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, blaming him for dismantling the passenger rail network. But AMLO isn't just dishing out drama, he's also cooking up a plan. He's invited private companies to submit their proposals, and guess what? The offers are rolling in hotter than habaneros!
Mexico-Querétaro, Querétaro-León, León-Aguascalientes with a Guadalajara hookup (just for El Tapatío, naturellement), and even Querétaro-San Luis Potosí – it's enough to make your cabeza spin faster than a piñata at a quinceañera.
Now, Nuño Lara is playing coy, unsure if El Tapatío will grace the tracks during this administration or the next. But hey, that's just how the mariachi rolls, right? We need more studies, more planning, more telenovela-worthy suspense.
So, stay tuned, amigos. The future of El Tapatío is as uncertain as a Mexican weatherman's forecast. But one thing's for sure: with AMLO at the helm and private companies lining up like suitors at a baile folklórico, the chances of this train making a comeback are hotter than a jalapeño popper on Cinco de Mayo. Let's go.
