The federal Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SICT) last week launched an international tender to select a company to design, install and maintain a 5G telecommunications network for two passenger rail corridors that are currently under construction.
In an Aug. 6 statement, SICT said that via the Integrated Trains and Public Transport Agency (Attrapi), it issued an “international public call for bids for the design, supply, installation, commissioning, and maintenance of the telecommunications network on the Mexico City–Querétaro–Irapuato and Saltillo–Nuevo Laredo rail sections.”
“… The telecommunications network that is the subject of the tender includes 5G Standalone Railroad Radio Communications, a state-of-the-art mobile communication system with advanced signaling and train safety [features],” the ministry said.
Such a network allows trains to communicate with each other and rail control centers, making it essential to the safe operation of railroads.
The construction of the Mexico City–Querétaro–Irapuato and Saltillo–Nuevo Laredo rail corridors is part of an ambitious plan to significantly increase Mexico’s passenger railroad network. Various new lines are slated to open in the coming years. In its 2026 budget, the federal government allocated more than 104 billion pesos (US $6.1 billion) to new rail projects.
SICT said that proposals for the design and installation of the 5G network for the Mexico City–Querétaro–Irapuato and Saltillo–Nuevo Laredo train lines will be accepted from Sept. 14, with a decision to be announced on Sept. 25. Proposals must be in Spanish with costings in Mexican pesos.
According to Attrapi, the estimated commencement date for the telecommunications network project is Oct. 1, 2026.
SICT noted that the call for bids specifies that there will be no site visit due to “the project’s geographic scope.”
“The [two] railway sections under construction measure 675 kilometers,” the ministry said, noting also that the call for bids was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation.
With reports from Expansión
