Mexico launches second phase of passenger rail plan

BnamericasPublished: Monday, July 20, 2026

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The Mexican government has launched the second stage of bidding for its passenger train program, with the publication of the first international tenders for the sections that will connect the center and the north of the country.

The Integrated Public Train and Transport Agency (ATTRAPI) confirmed that this week it will launch the tender for the San Luis Potosí–Saltillo segment, after having already published the tender for the first section of the corridor Querétaro–San Luis Potosí.

First tender: Querétaro–San Miguel de Allende

According to the Compras MX platform, ATTRAPI opened on July 10 the open international public tender No. LO-09-JZO-009JZO001-I-26-2026, for the “construction and design of 68 km of section I of the railway of the Querétaro - Saltillo Passenger Train, section: Querétaro – San Luis Potosí, subsection: Querétaro – San Miguel de Allende, from km 0+000 to km 68+000,” according to the tender notice. The contract includes the construction of viaducts, stations, tunnels, bridges, railway underpasses and overpasses, and pedestrian bridges.

The process will be carried out under the modality of a lump-sum public works contract, with evaluation by points and percentages, and provides for an execution period of 851 calendar days, with construction estimated to begin on September 24, 2026. The contract is multi-annual, involving four budgetary years, and the winning contractor will receive an advance payment of 30% of the budget allocation corresponding to each year, backed by a guarantee equivalent to 100% of that amount. In addition, they must provide a performance bond for 20% of the contract amount and liability insurance for 10%.

The schedule for the process set August 24 for the submission and opening of bids and a decision date of September 7, 2026. This is an open international procedure in which individuals or legal entities of Mexican or foreign nationality may participate, with permission for joint participation and partial subcontracting of the work (limited to laboratory services). The project corresponds to portfolio 2609JZO0001, within budget program K09–Railway Infrastructure for Freight and Passenger Transport, and will have the participation of a social witness throughout all stages of the process.

Tender for the San Luis Potosí–Saltillo section

As reported by T21, the director of Works at ATTRAPI, Efraín Deschamps, indicated that this Monday the launch of the tender for the San Luis Potosí–Saltillo section is expected, in the context of his participation in the XXV National Meeting of Land Routes, organized by the Mexican Association of Land Route Engineering in Morelia, Michoacán.

Deschamps explained that the reason for putting the first section out to international tender was to increase competition: "we already launched the international public tender because we want there to be more participation and more bids for the first section that runs from Querétaro to San Miguel de Allende, which is the Querétaro-San Luis Potosí one," said the official, as cited by the outlet. He added that the Felipe Ángeles Engineering Group, the construction arm of the Ministry of National Defense, will be in charge of executing the Irapuato-León and León-Guadalajara sections.

The ATTRAPI executive added that demand, pre-investment, and basic engineering studies are continuing for the Mazatlán-Los Mochis section, although he clarified that it "still does not have an authorized start date." Regarding the technical characteristics of the new sections, he indicated that they will have exclusive passenger tracks: "there will be no interaction with freight tracks, nor level crossings; we have maximum speeds of 160 to 200 kilometers per hour," he stated, according to T21.

A staged network

Deschamps also explained that the third stage of the program includes the construction of approximately 1,100 kilometers corresponding to the Pacific Corridor —Guadalajara-Tepic, Mazatlán-Los Mochis, Los Mochis-Guaymas and Guaymas-Hermosillo—, while a possible fourth stage would include the Tepic-Mazatlán and Hermosillo-Nogales sections.

The official summarized the project's vision: "we are building a national railway network that is integrated and coordinated with other means of transport; each of the stations we are building also includes a space for integration or for urban public transport. We want to consolidate a modern railway system," he said, as cited by T21.

This staggered bidding scheme for the second phase —which formally began in late June— had been described by Andrés Lajous, director general of ATTRAPI, as a strategy to synchronize engineering design with project execution: the agency plans to launch bids gradually, between June and September 2026, for the different segments of the Querétaro-San Luis Potosí and San Luis Potosí-Saltillo corridors, with staggered awards between September and November.

This process is also part of ATTRAPI's 2026-2030 Institutional Program, recently published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, which sets a target of more than 3,000 km of new passenger railway lines and 38 stations integrated into urban transport systems by the end of the six-year term.

Progress of the first stage

Regarding the corridors of the first phase, Deschamps recalled, according to T21, that the México-AIFA, AIFA-Pachuca and México-Querétaro are under the responsibility of the Agrupamiento de Ingenieros Felipe Ángeles, while ATTRAPI tendered and awarded the Querétaro-Irapuato and Saltillo-Nuevo Laredo sections. The latter, the longest already under construction, covers 396,34 km between the industrial zone of Derramadero and Nuevo Laredo, and is being carried out through five contracts distributed across different segments and structures, with construction progress ranging from 0,8% to 13,2%, according to ATTRAPI reports cited by T21. In Querétaro-Irapuato, with four contracts under execution by Mota-Engil and Comsa, progress ranges between 1,58% and 24,8%.

With the opening of the tender for Querétaro-San Miguel de Allende and the imminent launch of the San Luis Potosí-Saltillo process, Mexico is consolidating the transition of its passenger railway plan from the stage of studies and initial awards to a phase of broader international tenders, in which greater participation is expected from foreign contractors for the sections that will connect the center of the country with the northern border.