In its third report on the Public Account of 2023, the Superior Audit Office of the Federation (ASF) identified improper payments totaling 17 million pesos in the construction of the train that will connect Mexico City with Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA).
During the audit, the work undertaken by the government to extend the Suburban Train to AIFA was evaluated, investigating an amount of 928 million pesos and uncovering various irregularities. The most significant of these was the identification of excessive payments over 7 million pesos in the supervision and control contract for the construction of the new freight railway operations yard connected to the railway lines. In this case, it was confirmed that specialists and workers whose presence could not be verified were included in the payroll.
Additionally, the audit pointed out deficiencies in the execution of the works and a lack of planning in them.
The train to AIFA represents one of the priority projects that Andrés Manuel López Obrador's administration failed to complete, leaving Claudia Sheinbaum's management with a series of challenges to resolve. The inauguration of this railway infrastructure, which will be essential for the subsequent connection between Mexico City and Pachuca, has experienced multiple delays. Initially scheduled to begin operations in the last quarter of 2023 and later postponed to mid-2024, both deadlines were not met.
Currently, Sheinbaum has committed to completing the construction of the train by July of this year, after having removed the responsibility for the work from CAF, a private company in charge of the Suburban Train, and transferring it to the army. However, General Ricardo Vallejo, in charge of the work, has indicated that the date proposed by the president will depend on negotiations with local residents, who have blocked more than one-third of the works.
