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Following the launch of the Maya Train last year, Mexico looks set to host yet another major railway project, with construction set to start as soon as early 2025:
As local media reports, it's a new tourist town from Mexico City to Queretaro, one of the best-preserved––and most beautiful, at that––historic cities in the country that's in the cards, further modernizing intercity travel south of the border.
As of right now, most of the country is served by bus lines, which are often cause for complaint, due to the constant road delays and overall unreliability of transportation providers, but soon enough, those long, tedious bus rides will be a thing of the past.
Trains From Mexico City To Queretaro Will Soon Become A Reality!
Following in the footsteps of her predecessor AMLO, who brought us the Maya Train, newly elected Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is keen on leaving her own mark by constructing a series of new train routes connecting key Mexican cities.
With a massive 7.8 billion-dollar investment in railway already announced for the 2025 budget and the promise of more than 1,864 miles of tracks to be laid over the next six years, the current administration is truly invested in this.
Though many projects are still in the drawing board, the first ‘Sheinbaum train', as they're calling it, will be the Mexico City-Queretaro line, linking the bustling metropolis to a culture-charged colonial gem located some 135 miles northwest.
This was confirmed by General Gustavo Ricardo Vallejo, a spokesperson for SEDENA, an association of engineers expected to be involved in the construction, who stated the Queretaro train is the Government's priority:
The project will be presented to investors and private contractors already before the end of 2024, with a tentative itinerary and list of stops, while construction is expected to begin in the first half of 2025, between March and April…
Should there be no setbacks.
We've all followed the Maya Train saga closely, with all its delays, reroutings, and eventual phased-out launch, so we would take these estimates with a pinch of salt.
For now, the good news is that the project exists, there is political will for a Mexico-Queretaro train, and political leaders seem passionate about it.
Launch At Some Point In The Next 2 Years?
The current estimate is that the train will be delivered in under 2 years, as it is a much shorter line than the expansive Maya Train, with fewer stops and fewer logistical problems.
However, the government has apparently learned from its past mistakes and is still refraining from offering a final date.
So far, all we know is it's departing from Mexico City and arriving to Queretaro, with stops in main stations like Buenavista (still in the capital) and Buenavista, with potential further stations to be added depending on demand.
The driving distance from Mexico City to Queretaro is just under 3 hours, so if the new train is anywhere near the Maya Train's level of efficiency, providing an alternative to the jammed traffic on the major roads, we can expect the travel time to be reduced significantly.
Mexico City is the leading cultural destination in Mexico, and it's no surprise Americans can't get enough of it: a one-off visit is certainly not nearly enough time, what with all the colorful neighborhoods, beautiful Spanish-era plazas, and ancient Aztec heritage.
Queretaro, on the other hand, is not as widely popular, despite being just as gorgeous:
A UNESCO-Protected Gem
Dating back to the colonial period, its entire historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, owing to a high concentration of intact Spanish monuments, including a pink-stone aqueduct and a Baroque Santa Rosa de Viterbo Church.
Other noteworthy sites in Queretaro include the ocher-colored San Francisco Church and the Convent of Santa Cruz, one of the first-ever built by Europeans on this side of the pond, not to mention all those picturesque pedestrian-friendly lanes lined with ornate facades.
As UNESCO notes, the Heritage Site covers 203 blocks and has exactly 1400 designated monuments, 20 of which are richly decorated Spanish churches and pilgrimage sites; that being said, Queretaro is far from being just a ‘boring' open-air museum.
It is one of the most vibrant cities in Mexico, with a big selection of traditional restaurants, laid-back cocktail bars serving affordable drinks, and mostly frequented by hospitable locals that will give you something to look forward to on a night out, and traditional markets.
Will The New Train Be As Successful As The Maya Train?
Since its launch, the Maya Train has made travel across the Yucatan Peninsula far less complicated to plan, bridging gap between numerous destinations, and opening up travel opportunities for visitors landing in Cancun in Mexico.
It is one of the greatest success stories in the development front to have come out of Mexico, or even Latin America as a whole, in recent decades, with high ridership seen so far on popular routes like Cancun-Merida and Cancun-Tulum.
As demand for cultural destinations grows and Americans going to Mexico look for unique experiences beyond their typical one-week, all-inclusive resort stay, it's safe to say the Mexico City-Queretaro line might prove just as big a hit.
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