El Insurgente

Background

As a part of then-President Enrique Peña Nieto's plan to offer public transport from Toluca to Mexico City, a cost–benefit analysis report was drafted and published in November 2013.^[2]: 1 The report proposed several routes. The three routes were concentrated to the metro terminals of Cuatro Caminos, Tacubaya, and Observatorio.^[2]: 45 Ultimately, the third route along Avenida Las Torres to Observatorio was chosen in order to avert future sprawl, avoid deforestation in the Sierra de las Cruces, and prevent pollution of aquifers that supply water to residents.^{[2]: 11 and 12} A section of the chosen route was altered by 4.3 km (2.7 mi) in October 2015 to no longer run above Avenida Vasco de Quiroga in Cuajimalpa.^[3]

The railway line is electrified and elevated with a tunnel portion between the State of Mexico and Mexico City.^{[2]: 18 [4]} There are seven stations. Four stations located in the State of Mexico and the remaining three are located in Mexico City.^[5] The line is designed to complement the Mexico City Metro by terminating at Observatorio station of Line 1 and provide heavy railway service to the Santa Fe business district.^{[2]: 13 [5][6]} A shuttle provides connection to Toluca International Airport at the Metepec station (formerly named Tecnológico). The commuter line runs parallel to Avenida Las Torres and Mexican Federal Highway 15/Mexican Federal Highway 15D.^[5] The total cost of the project was estimated at $38.6 billion MXN in 2014.^[4]

Construction

The Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) divided the project into three sections for contractors to bid on:

Section 1 covers the western terminal in Zinacantepec to the eastern tunnel entrance at Sierra de las Cruces. This encompasses 36.1 km (22.4 mi) of the project. The contracts were awarded to La Peninsular Compañía Constructora and Constructora de Proyectos Viales de México.^[7]

Section 2 is the 4.6 km (2.9 mi) tunnel portion underneath Sierra de las Cruces. Ingenieros Civiles y Asociados [es] was awarded the contract.^[8]

Section 3 involves the 17 km (11 mi) Mexico City portion from the western tunnel entrance at Sierra de las Cruces to the Metro Observatorio Station. The contract was awarded to a consortium.^[9]

For its rolling stock, Spanish manufacturing company CAF was awarded a contract in 2014 to construct 30 EMUs for $11.6 billion MXN (€690 million).^[10] Each EMU will have five cars, have a capacity of 700 passengers, and operate at a maximum speed of 160 km/h (99 mph).^[11] Deliveries for the trainsets began in January 2017.^[12]

The train depot is located west of Zinacantepec station and was built at a cost of MXN942 million. The contract was awarded to a consortium in March 2016.^[13]

In July 2014, a formal ceremony was carried out by the head of SCT, Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, to mark the start of construction.^[14]

There have been several construction accidents during the project. On 4 May 2016, the temporary support structures gave way, causing the concrete decking to collapse near the intersection of Avenida Las Torres and Avenida Colón in Toluca.^[15] On 2 June 2016, bad weather caused concrete-reinforced rebar to fold onto traffic near the intersection of Avenida Las Torres and Avenida Díaz Mirón in Toluca.^[16] On 7 July 2016, a work site caved in killing one worker and injuring two.^[17] On 16 July 2016, a construction worker was killed when a truck lost control and struck the worker on a construction site in Metepec.^[18]

In July 2019, the SCT determined the project's completion would be delayed to the end of 2022.^[19] Javier Jiménez Espriú, head of the SCT, announced the project was 87% complete, however, there have been cost overruns from $42.72 billion MXN in 2015 to $73.72 billion MXN in 2019.^[20] President Manuel Lopez Obrador inaugurated the opening of Section 1 of the rail line in September 2023, but since the train runs only through stations in Toluca and does not run through to Mexico City, ridership was exceptionally low as of December 2023.^[21]

On 1 September 2023, the line branded as El Insurgente, after Miguel Hidalgo.^[22] On 15 September 2023, the first section from Zinacantepec to Lerma opened, with four trains initially running on the section.^[23] On 31 August 2024, the second section from Lerma to Santa Fe inaugurated.^[24][25] On 2 February 2026, the third section from Santa Fe to Observatorio was inaugurated, completing the line.^[26][27]