The completion of the commuter rail branch to Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA) has hit a roadblock and will now begin testing and open in the third quarter of 2024. This is the final leg of the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has vowed to leave no work unfinished.
Max Noria, the commuter rail’s director of marketing, recently stated that right-of-way was the main issue that was holding up progress on the project. As of September, authorities reported that they were 80 percent clear of this issue. However, there is no exact number of sections remaining to be released for the 15 kilometers that are being worked on. Nevertheless, it is expected that the project will be ready for testing sometime in the final quarter of this administration’s term, which would allow operations to potentially begin in the third quarter of next year.
The new deadline implies an extension of the previously mentioned date of June 2023 for the release of the train into traffic. The construction of this suburban branch from Lecheria station to AIFA includes 23 kilometers, eight of which are located in the Santa Lucia air base training ground and 15 in Tultitlán and Tultepec municipalities. In this phase, construction works are underway on equipment such as contact network, electrical substation and signaling systems while other infrastructure such as trains are being procured by government agencies such as Secretariat for Infrastructure, Communications and Traffic.
In September, it was reported that project was 46 percent complete with over 77 machines working day and night to fulfill President López Obrador’s promise not to leave any work unfinished.