Tren Suburbano

Official logo of the Ferrocarril Suburbano

The Ferrocarril Suburbano de le Zona Metropolitana de México is an electric regional rail system being constructed in Mexico City. It is also known as Valley of Mexico Suburban Rail System and colloquially referred to as El Tren Suburbano or ZMVN.

The initial section is currently being built for a distance of 27 kilometers from Mexico City's Buenavista Station north to Cuautitlán and Huehuetoca, in the Estado de México. This first section will cost 6.7 billion pesos (approx US$600 million) and is projected to carry 320,000 passengers daily.

Authorities hope to extend the system as far as it is practical to do so (the current long range plan is for 242 kilometers of lines [1]), in order to reduce Mexico City's heavy road traffic congestion and air pollution. In most cases the system will follow existing rail lines, however inside Mexico City itself on the approach to Buenavista, a considerable amount of beneath-grade excavation has been done, and road bridges built over the right of way.

On August 24 2005, CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, S.A.) obtained a 30 year concession to supply rolling stock, build and operate the Tren Suburbano.

Spokesmen for Mexico's federal transport authority (SCT) have said the section of the Tren Suburbano currently under construction should be finished in mid 2007 [2]. An 11 km extension to Chalco in the eastern part of the State of Mexico was approved in October 2006 [3].