Passenger Rail Service In Mexico
Mexico Connect Forum Discussion Threads
Posted by Bill on Abril 24, 2000
A short article, “Buenavista RR Station Now an Empty Shell,” about the status of passenger rail service in Mexico appeared today on the website Mr.News.Mx. (Article Follows)
Posted by Al Grabow on Abril 24, 2000
This link indicates that the Copper Canyon train was suspended over a year ago. Anyone know if this reference is to the Chihuahua al Pacifico, and is it no longer operating passenger service?
Posted by JackS on Abril 24, 2000
I was just there in February, and before that in November. The train has all new interiors and amenities, including newly upholstered seats, new carpets, a dining car and lounge car. Prices have increased dramatically, but there is no other transportation for local folks who must travel between Los Mochis and Creel. There are no roads, therefore no bus service. Sure, if you know the way, there are many unpaved roads traversing the area, but nothing suitable for buses.
Posted by Barry on Abril 25, 2000
FYI: Carl Franz book describes making this trip by bus.
Posted by JackS on Abril 26, 2000
Carl's excellent book mentions bus travel TO the Canyon, not through it. Once in Creel, the "gateway" to Copper Canyon, there is a local bus down into the Canyon, to Batopilas. There is also a local bus from the train station at Bahuichivo down to Urique. However, you need the train to get from Creel to Bahuichivo, or from Mochis/El Fuerte to Bahuichivo. A road is under construction, which will eventually connect Mochis and Creel, but there's a gap between San Rafael and Choix. When completed, this will open the area to other forms of transportation, but for now, the train is all there is. As stated previously, there is a network of local dirt roads, but these are not suitable for the occasional traveler, unless you know the area and are driving a sturdy vehicle.
Like other travel books, Carl's book has portions which may have been accurate at the time, but aren't now. Example: His reference to the lack of a dining car on the train. That was true for years, but in an attempt at upgrading the service, a dining AND lounge car have been added, in addition to all new seats and carpets. Now if they could only get that train to run on time.
News Report: Spring 2000
Government signals end of line for passenger rail services
MEXICO CITY – Despite public protests in the states of Coahuila, Durango, Oaxaca and Zacatecas, the federal government last week said that it will proceed with the cancellation of passenger rail services in areas where alternative means of transport are available.
Communications and Transportation Secretariat (SCT) Fares and Rail Transport Director Oscar Corzo Cruz said the government has decided to cancel costly, under-used rail services in the four states. He explained that it is impossible to continue subsidizing such services.
“Last year,” Corzo said, “the federal government provided special funding for the construction of rural roads connecting communities previously linked only by rail service.”
For most of the 20th Century, Mexico's railroads linked isolated communities scattered across the country's rugged terrain, providing a much-needed transport system that allowed merchants, farmers and migrant workers to move around cheaply.
Train fares traditionally were much lower than bus fares, and although most lines offered service only once a day in each direction, huge distances could be covered with trains leaving Mexico City for as far afield as Nuevo Laredo, on the US border, and Merida, Yucatan.
The first railroad built in Mexico linked the nation's capital with Veracruz, bringing freight from the Gulf Coast to Mexico City and carrying export goods to the port. The line runs through the state of Tlaxcala, a traditional maguey-growing region.
Above all, the trains have served as vital links between isolated communities. They have generated employment and income for those living alongside the railroad tracks, too, as the passing of the train always brought customers in search of drinks, snacks and even handicrafts.
During the recent Easter holiday period, the sorry decline of the nation's passenger rail service was all too evident in Mexico City's Buenavista Railroad Station, which lay quiet and abandoned, a far cry from the crowds that usually lined the sales area during Holy Week.
Even after the construction of new roads, the low incomes of rural families will make it difficult for them to travel. And, while new bus services may give them access to nearby towns, long-distance travel will now be more difficult, since families will need to find extra money to pay for more-expensive inter-state bus services.
Corzo said the state governments of Zacatecas and Coahuila had responded to public outcry by agreeing to partially fund passenger rail services.
In Coahuila, the Sierra Mojada-Ciudad Fronteriza route will continue, and the private company Coahuila-Durango Railways will provide the technical assistance required to maintain the service.
The Zacatecas state government will operate the service between Felipe Pescador and the city of Torreon, in the state of Coahuila, an important commercial route in the region. It will also provide weekend service for teachers who work in the area and regularly travel home to the La Laguna region.
Mexican Railways (Ferromex) will provide technical assistance for the Filipe Pescador-Torreon line, and the state government will operate the service.
"In both cases, the federal government will supply locomotives and carriages in good condition, including a locomotive, two passenger carriages and an express freight train," said Corzo.
Government-subsidized passenger-train services still operate in the states of Oaxaca, Campeche, Chiapas and Tabasco. But as new highways are built to link communities formerly connected only by the railroad, rail services will be gradually phased out.
In November, the federal government brought an abrupt end to the majority of Mexico's passenger train services, with the liquidation of state-owned Ferrocariles Nacionales de Mexico (FNM).
Corzo said that eventually, the only passenger service subsidized by the government would be the scenic Chihuahua-Pacific "Copper Canyon" route, operated by Ferromex and popular among tourists.
"The service is justified by the extremes of the terrain in the Copper Canyon and the Tarahumara Sierra, which prevent the construction of a highway linking the communities located there," he said.
Buenavista RR station now an empty shell
MEXICO CITY – For the first time in its history, Buenavista – which was the most important railroad station in Mexico until it was closed in January this year – was not filled with travelers during Holy Week.
At the deserted and abandoned terminal, one patrol car and three blue-uniformed officers are on duty to inform those that inquire that the station is no longer in service.<br > The watchmen that guard the majestic facade said National Railroads shut down operations in view of the privatization process which is under way.
The Buenavista station is now completely empty, except for a locomotive that was used during the Mexican Revolution, which is still on display.
Only one route still operates out of the terminal – Mexico to Apizaco, Tlaxcala – on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Still, would-be passengers arrive each day to buy tickets, unaware that operations have ceased.
Now that the railroad lines are private and no longer heavily subsidized by the federal government, passenger service has gone the way of the steam locomotive. Most of the famous routes no longer exist. The train ride through Copper Canyon, which had become internationally renowned, was suspended over a year ago.
The railroad companies say that carrying passengers is a losing proposition, so they concentrate on transporting freight and leave the carrying of people to the bus lines.
And, although their stance is financially correct, train lovers lament the passing of an era.
