Querétaro–Irapuato Passenger Train

Alignment

The line continues the Mexico City–Querétaro passenger train west from Querétaro into Guanajuato’s Bajío region, the first step of a planned route toward León and Guadalajara. Leaving Querétaro, it serves a stop at Apaseo el Grande, then Celaya, where the station will occupy the former rail terminal in the city center, Cortazar–Villagrán, Salamanca (in the north of the city), and Irapuato, where the terminal will sit in the freight yard next to the historic station. Some 2025 station lists also counted Querétaro, which is served by the Mexico City–Querétaro line. Most of the route is in Guanajuato; one 2026 federal breakdown put 88 km of a 100 km total in that state.

The passenger tracks are a new, non-electrified double track laid mostly beside the existing freight railway, designed for up to 200 km/h. Official lengths have varied: 108.2 km at the 2025 groundbreaking and 102.2 km in ATTRAPI’s October 2026 report. Planned structures include 10 viaducts totaling more than 6 km, a box tunnel, and 13 road structures. In Celaya, freight trains have been moved to a bypass so the old yard can become the passenger station, and a maintenance base is planned there. Officials expect 30,000 to 33,000 riders a day. Trains will be diesel units from a 47-train order placed in December 2025 for the new northern routes.

Portugal’s Mota-Engil is building both civil works contracts: the 30.3 km first section from Querétaro to Apaseo el Grande and the 70.7 km second section from Apaseo el Grande to Irapuato.

Updates

2026-10 — Works reach 25%

During a site visit by President Claudia Sheinbaum on October 31, ATTRAPI head Andrés Lajous put progress at 25% on 102.2 km of track with five stations. Of the 10 planned viaducts, five were under construction, two were to start in early November, and three before the end of 2026. Officials reported 3,365 direct jobs.

2026-09 — Progress at 22%; cost put at MX$47B

At the September 23 federal rail update, the line was reported at 22.26% physical progress, with an investment of about MX$47B for 108 km of track. Expected demand was about 33,000 passengers a day, with stations at Apaseo el Grande, Celaya, Cortazar, Salamanca, and Irapuato.

2026-06 — Celaya freight bypass finished

ATTRAPI reported land clearing on 48 km, 25 km of continuous embankment, and drainage works finished at nine sites. Work had begun on the Celaya station and maintenance base after the freight bypass around Celaya was completed, freeing the old yard for passenger use. Two viaducts totaling 3 km were under construction.

2026-02 — Studies begin for extensions to León and Guadalajara

The federal government said the Querétaro–Irapuato section was under construction, with more than 600 workers and clearing on more than 10 km, and old tracks being removed in Celaya. It reported that basic engineering had started on extending the line from Irapuato to León and then to Guadalajara via Tepatitlán and Zapotlanejo. It estimated about 50,000 daily passengers between Mexico City and Irapuato.

2025-10 — Mota-Engil wins the second section

Mota-Engil won the design-build contract for the second section, 70.7 km from Apaseo el Grande to Irapuato, worth about €820 million and scheduled to take 29 months. The company had won the first section, worth about €290 million, in August 2025.

2025-09 — Construction begins

Construction started on September 18, 2025, with a ceremony in Apaseo el Grande attended by the SICT secretary, the rail regulator’s head, and the governors of Querétaro and Guanajuato, with Sheinbaum joining by video. The first stage is 30.3 km of double track from Querétaro to Apaseo el Grande, with two viaducts and nine road overpasses.

2025-03 — Irapuato extension announced

Federal officials presented the Querétaro–Irapuato extension as part of the Mexico City–Querétaro project. Lajous said trains would be running to Querétaro by the end of 2027, and the transport ministry said service would begin in 2028.