What Will Three New Rail Lines Mean for Mexico?
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum announced July 10 that she will build three train lines running from the capital to some cities along the U.S. border. The project involves constructing some 1,850 miles of passenger rail, about double what current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador built. Sheinbaum announced that the trains would be electric, in contrast to the diesel-consuming freight trains that make up Mexico’s current fleets. Why is Sheinbaum proposing this infrastructure project? How does this align with her environmental policies? What will the new rail lines accomplish?