The completion of the Suburban Train branch to the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) has been delayed, with tests and an opening date in the third quarter of 2024. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised not to leave any work unfinished, but an obstacle has emerged in this final stretch of his administration.
Max Noria, director of Marketing for Suburban Railways, stated that the right of way has been a major issue in the project. According to reports, they were 80 percent clear of the road as of September. The exact number of sections remaining is unknown, but it is expected that the project will be ready for testing sometime in the last quarter of López Obrador’s administration, potentially allowing for operation to begin in the third quarter of next year.
The new deadline implies an extension of the previously mentioned June 2023 date for the train to be operational. The construction covers 23 kilometers, with eight located in the Santa Lucía air base polygon and 15 in Tultitlán and Tultepec municipalities. In Tultepec, civil engineering work is ongoing to equip the branch line with catenary, electrical substation and signaling systems while infrastructure acquisition is being done by Secretariat of Infrastructure Communications and Transportation.
As September approached, Noria said that work was ongoing day and night by 77 machines and over 2 thousand workers to fulfill López Obrador’s promise not to leave works unfinished.