Travel

These are the passenger train routes in Mexico

It's not just the Chepe and the Mayan Train, there are other active passenger train routes in Mexico and some that are being planned. Here is what they are.

Mexicanist

Mexicanist

— 2 min read
These are the passenger train routes in Mexico
El Chepe passenger train in Mexico on its world-famous scenic route. Photo by Casey Horner / Unsplash

Work on the Mayan Train continues to advance and its scheduled end in 2023 is approaching, with it, a new passenger route will be added to Mexico's railway system. Although 'El Chepe' is probably the most popular of the trains that still transport people in the national territory, it is not the only one. One of the 4T government's plans is to revive the passenger train service to have 11 total by 2050, but where can you already travel by train in Mexico? Currently, three routes are operating in the states of Baja California, Chihuahua-Sinaloa, and Jalisco.

El Chepe

In approximately nine hours, you travel more than 350 km by train from Los Mochis, Sinaloa to Creel, Chihuahua, a Magical Town located in the heart of the Sierra Tarahumara, an area also known as Las Barrancas del Cobre, which is a series of imposing canyons that unite these two northern Mexican states.

Tequila Express

The route of this train goes from Guadalajara to Tequila, following the so-called "tequila route". The trip takes approximately two hours.

Tijuana-Tecate

This route goes from Tijuana to the Magical Town of Tecate. The train has a capacity of 280 people and the trip lasts two and a half hours. Among the stops are Abelardo L. Rodriguez Dam, Valle de Guadalupe, and Miguel Hidalgo Park, in the Magical Town of Tecate.

Farewell to the train in Puebla

Until 2021 there was another passenger train route in operation in Mexico and it was in Puebla. It was the Puebla-Cholula Tourist Train, which gave its last run in December last year.

Map of passenger trains in Mexico 2050
Map of passenger trains in Mexico 2050. Photo: Miguel Torruco Garza

What are the train routes planned for 2050?

In February of this year, Congressman Miguel Torruco Garza published on social networks a map containing the 11 train route lines that are planned to connect the country in 2050. The routes are as follows:

  1. Pacific Train with an extension of 4,700 kilometers.
  2. El Chepe, 673 kilometers.
  3. Western Train, with an extension of 2,250 kilometers in pink.
  4. Eastern Train, with an extension of 2,000 kilometers.
  5. The Transversal Train route is 1,200 kilometers.
  6. Gulf Train, with an extension of 1,650 kilometers.
  7. The Bajio Train, with 1,500 kilometers.
  8. Downtown Train with 1,300 kilometers.
  9. Tren del Istmo, with a length of 300 kilometers.
  10. Oaxaca Train of 750 kilometers.
  11. The Mayan Train of 1,800 kilometers.

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