Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Bringing back the Trains

For a country as large as Mexico (2 million square km - bigger than France, Germany, Spain,  UK, Portugal, Holland, Belgium and Switzerland combined), it's surprising there isn't much of a rail system. Like many countries, a network was begun in the late 1800s but petered out during the Revolution and then fell into disrepair. 
Nowadays two companies run freight trains in the top half of the country, but there are no passenger services, unless one counts a few small tourist lines (e.g. through Copper Canyon, another in Yucatan…). People generally get around by bus, car or plane.
Looks like this is set to change, however. Construction has just begun on high-speed passenger lines from the capital to Toluca and Queretaro, with further services to Puebla and Guadalajara to follow.

2 comments:

  1. What you need is Chris Watson's "El Tren Fantasma" CD.
    "Take the ghost train from Los Mochis to Veracruz and travel cross country, coast to coast, Pacific to Atlantic. Ride the rhythm of the rails on board the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (FNM) and the music of a journey that has now passed into history."
    There is a track I'm sure on one of my compilations……...

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  2. You're right. "La Anunciate" on a compilation called" Spark" from 3 years ago. I once recorded the sounds of a journey by Amtrak across two or three states of the US. Turned our rather dull though.

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