The Puebla-Cholula Tourist Train ( es, link=no, Tren turístico Puebla-Cholula) was a

tram-train A tram-train is a type of light rail vehicle that meets the standards of a light rail system (usually an urban street running tramway), but which also meets national mainline standards permitting operation alongside mainline trains. This all ...

railway line that connected the city centre of

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

with the tourist zone in Cholula in

Puebla State Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Operation began in January 2017 and ended in December 2021.

History

The project was announced in July 2015 by Puebla State Governor

Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas (30 June 1968 – 24 December 2018) was a Mexican politician affiliated with the National Action Party (PAN). He was the governor of Puebla from February 2011 through January 2017. Moreno Valle also served as a deputy ...

. Construction began in November 2015 and was completed in early 2017 when it was inaugurated by President

Enrique Peña Nieto Enrique Peña Nieto (; born 20 July 1966), commonly referred to by his initials EPN, is a Mexican politician who served as the 64th president of Mexico from 1 December 2012 to 30 November 2018. A member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party ...

and Governor Moreno Valle. Initially budgeted to cost 800 million pesos, final project costs totaled 1,113 million pesos.

Route

The single-track route largely utilized existing rail rights-of-way to the north and west of Puebla City. The route began at the Mexican National Railway Museum in Puebla's city centre. The first of the route operated as a tram line without any stops along city streets with mixed vehicle traffic. The remainder of the route utilized a dedicated at-grade right-of-way from Puebla City to Cholula Station adjacent to the Cholula Archaeological Zone. An additional two intermediate stops, Mercado Hidalgo Station and Momoxpan Station, were constructed but have not been opened.

Operations

The Puebla-Cholula Tourist Train's rolling stock consisted of two three-car diesel-electric -long trains supplied by

Vossloh Vossloh AG is a rail technology company based in Werdohl in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The SDAX-listed group has achieved sales of around €930 million in 2016 with more than 4,000 employees (as of 2017). Vossloh is a global ...

. The trains have a capacity of 284 people. Average train speed was 30km/hr and the approximate travel time between Puebla and Cholula was 40 minutes. There were three daily departures from each terminal on weekdays and nine daily departures from each terminal on weekends and holidays. Total passengers in 2019 numbered 161,377 users. Operations ended on 31 December 2021 due to a lack of profitability.

References

{{commonscat Railway lines in Mexico Puebla (city) Light rail in Mexico