Queretaro, Qro. Resuming a project like the Mexico-Querétaro Train would improve the region’s logistics system, said representatives of the state’s private initiative, after the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, announced that an agreement had been signed with Kansas City so that the company analyzes the feasibility of establishing a passenger train.
Business leaders stated that, in addition to encouraging the flow of travelers between the country’s capital and the state, a project of this magnitude would mitigate the road pressure that affects federal highway 57.
Improvements are expected for the commerce sector given the need to optimize this communication channel, stated the president of the Querétaro Chamber of Commerce, Fabián Camacho Arredondo.
Up to 45% of local trade merchandise -he added- is mobilized through the Mexico-Querétaro highway, therefore, having a new mobility system between both points would allow the road to be relieved.
“In terms of logistics, this project would represent a great contribution, a possibility of having mobility alternatives on this, which is one of the busiest routes for people and goods. In the commercial sector, about 45% of the merchandise, in general terms, goes through this road, its impact would be multiplier ”, he stated.
Added to the transportation of goods is the constant flow of people. The chamber reported that up to 55% of the visitors who arrive in the Querétaro Metropolitan Area come from Mexico City and its surroundings.
“At the same time pointing out the epicenter that (Mexico City) can represent in terms of people, in terms of tourism, it also has a high representation for visitors, for people who visit Querétaro as a tourist,” he added.
Fabián Camacho highlighted the importance of optimizing the communication route between both parts of the country, especially given the incidence of traffic events on the Mexico-Querétaro highway.
“Above all due to the impacts that accidents represent in economic matters, at the same time the traffic for the movement of merchandise, in trucks, in double-semi-trailers that in the event of any implication can cause delays that are directly impacting the various sectors of the economy,” he declared.
Therefore, he considered that the announcement that the president made this Thursday is a positive sign to strengthen the infrastructure and competitiveness of Querétaro. Establishing a passenger train in the short or medium term, he delved into, would generate significant mobility in the transfer of passengers, as well as in the exchange of services.
If the project comes to fruition, one of the main benefits will be to relieve the road load that federal highway 57 suffers daily, said the president of the Querétaro Business Center of the Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex), Jorge Camacho Ortega.
In addition to analyzing the service of a passenger train, he suggested that the possibility of expediting the movement of cargo through the railway be studied.
“The main benefit is to relieve highway 57, I can say that there are thousands of people who travel daily on highway 57, that there and back. (…) Many people would opt for the train. And if they also improve the loading system, we can also relieve that part of the cargo transport section and relieve the 57, it implies productivity, there are millions in losses every time there is an accident on the 57, (it takes) three, four or five hours in freeing the highway”, he pointed out.
The president of Coparmex Querétaro stated that the business community is open to participate in this type of project, through a partnership between the State and the private initiative. He also fought for the infrastructure to begin to be developed during the current administration, to prevent it from slowing down with the change of management.
On the morning of this Thursday, July 13, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that an agreement had been signed a few days ago with the Kansas City railway company, to develop a project for a passenger train that connects with Querétaro.
The company, declared the president, promised to carry out the project to determine the feasibility of the initiative; He added that the company already has the concession for the railway line, so it would seek to use the same line to establish passenger trains and modernize the system.
Source: El Econimista
