Mexico is going through a period of profound change. The economic boom driven by the arrival of a large number of companies looking to move closer to the US market, combined with the progressive policies of President Claudia Sheinbaum aimed at sustainable development and wealth redistribution, is giving the country one of its strongest growth phases in decades.
That growth is set to continue in infrastructure: by 2030, barring setbacks, more than 3,000 kilometers (roughly 1,860 miles) of new passenger rail lines will be built in Mexico.
A rail network that has to be rebuilt from scratch
Until the 1990s, Mexico’s rail network was among the best in the region. The wave of privatizations that defined those years, however, channeled investment into freight transport and led to the progressive disappearance of passenger trains.
Those passenger trains are now set to take center stage again. The Mexican government has announced a project to build new connections between the country’s most populous metropolitan areas.
The main corridors slated for new links include those between Mexico City and Querétaro, Pachuca, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Saltillo and Nuevo Laredo.
The goal is to cut road traffic, reduce harmful emissions and serve routes considered too long to drive and too short to fly.
The first steps, and the numbers behind the project
The first example of what Mexican railways are meant to become is El Insurgente, the train connecting Toluca to Mexico City, inaugurated on February 2, 2026 by President Claudia Sheinbaum.
It is a 60-kilometer (37-mile) link, critical for easing congestion in the metropolitan area and priced within everyone’s reach: tickets cost less than $6 (under €5).
El Insurgente cost roughly €5 billion ($5.4 billion) and is only the first piece of an enormous program for which the government has already allocated more than €7 billion ($7.6 billion), while putting out tenders for national corridors worth $58 billion, about €51 billion.
China as the template
Mexico’s decision to upgrade and modernize passenger lines closely echoes the path taken by China.
With all due differences, the Sheinbaum administration is following the example of the Chinese government, which over two decades turned rail infrastructure from a means of transport into a genuine lever for national economic development, making the country the world’s leading logistics hub.
What is certain is that the plan is decidedly ambitious. According to infrastructure experts recently interviewed by The Economist, a rail program of this scale has rarely been seen in a country that is effectively starting from zero on passenger transport.
Finally, to contain costs and speed up construction, many of the new lines are expected to be built alongside existing freight rail corridors.
Editor’s note
This article was originally published in Italian on money.it by Andrea Fabbri on July 19, 2026 as «La Cina ha usato le ferrovie come motore di crescita economica. Ora il Messico vuole fare lo stesso». It has been translated and adapted for an international audience by the Money.it International desk.
