Second stage of the Mexico-Toluca Interurban Train “El Insurgente” will operate at the end of August: Nuño Lara

This is an automated translation of the press release issued in Spanish

• The Zinacantepec-Santa Fe stretch will allow savings of 1.5 hours for more than 5 million people from Zinacantepec, Toluca, Metepec, Lerma, San Mateo Atenco, Ocoyoacac, Cuajimalpa and Álvaro Obregón
• Vasco de Quiroga Station is completely finished; the cable-stayed viaduct, which will preserve the spring, is 70% complete
• The system has 20 state-of-the-art electric trains, each with five carriages and capacity for 718 passengers.  

The second stage of the Mexico-Toluca Interurban Train “ El Insurgente ” is in the final phase of construction on its Lerma-Santa Fe section, announced the Secretary of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation ( SICT ), Jorge Nuño Lara .

Before President Andrés Manuel López Obrador , the head of SICT stated that in this second stage the tests were concluded satisfactorily, so the braking, the behavior of the electromechanical system and all the safety systems have already been tested to put them into operation on August 31.

Stage 2, 29 kilometers long, will connect Lerma Station to Santa Fe Station. The rolling stock consists of 10 trains, plus 10 that are already ready to be put into operation. They have automatic piloting with a level two safety system, which ensures that braking on the slope from Toluca to Mexico City is completely safe.

Each of these trains can carry up to 718 passengers and is equipped with air conditioning and video surveillance.

Its design consists of a metal arch viaduct, a five-kilometer double tunnel that crosses the Cerro de las Cruces, two metal lattices, three mixed viaducts, two vehicular overpasses, 17 kilometers of concrete viaduct, one kilometer of steel viaduct, 48 kilometers of flexible catenary, plus five kilometers of rigid catenary.

The head of SICT recalled that on September 15, 2023, the first stage of the train, which runs from Zinacantepec to Lerma, 20 kilometers long, was put into operation, and the civil works from Lerma to the Santa Fe station, which will be stage 2, were still to be completed.

He added that stages 1 and 2 from Zinacantepec to Santa Fe are expected to save 1.5 hours of travel time. More than five million people will benefit in the municipalities of Zinacantepec, Toluca, Metepec, Lerma, San Mateo Atenco, Ocoyoacac, and the municipalities of Cuajimalpa and Álvaro Obregón.

The journey will take 39 minutes. The system has the capacity to move up to 235 thousand passengers a day. The project has generated 17 thousand direct jobs and 30 thousand indirect jobs.

In addition to the works that the Secretariat has been carrying out on the connection between Lerma and Santa Fe, it is also responsible for two additional works: the Vasco de Quiroga station and a cable-stayed viaduct.

The Vasco de Quiroga station was built to serve users from the town of Santa Fe, as well as the Universidad de la Salud. It has an exclusive area for the circulation of students between classrooms and laboratories and is also integrated into the cable bus transportation system in Mexico City.

This station is now completely finished. The installation of the track, overhead lines and electromechanical systems has begun. Additionally, in order to pass over the Santa Fe spring, a cable-stayed viaduct with a central span of 200 metres is being built. It has two towers, one 65 metres high and the other 75 metres high.

For its foundation, 121 piles of 25 meters each were used; 22 thousand cubic meters of concrete plus 3 thousand 600 tons of steel. The progress of the cable-staying is currently 70 percent.

Nuño Lara explained that, for its execution, the work on the Mexico-Toluca Interurban Train “El Insurgente” was divided into two teams: the Mexico City government was in charge of 16 kilometers of civil works and viaduct, with the Santa Fe and Observatorio stations.

The Infrastructure Secretariat was responsible for 42 kilometers of civil works, plus 58 kilometers of track, overhead lines, electromechanical works and railway systems.

As well as the construction of workshops and garages, which are in Zinacantepec; and includes (from stage 1) five stations, which are: Zinacantepec, Toluca, Metepec, Lerma. And the rolling stock, which is 20 electric trains.

 

--o0o--