Puebla–Cholula Tourist Train

The Puebla–Cholula Tourist Train (Spanish: Tren turístico Puebla–Cholula) was a diesel tram-train service that connected the city centre of Puebla with the tourist zone in Cholula in the Mexican state of Puebla. Operation began in January 2017 and ended in December 2021.

Puebla–Cholula Tourist Train
Puebla-Cholula Tourist Train at Cholula Station
Overview
Owner	Government of the State of Puebla
Locale	State of Puebla
Termini	Puebla, Puebla Cholula, Puebla
Stations	2
Website	https://www.trenturisticopueblacholula.com/
Service
Type	Diesel tram-train
History
Opened	23 January 2017 (2017-01-23)
Closed	31 December 2021 (2021-12-31)
Technical
Line length	17.4 km (10.8 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map

History

The project was announced in July 2015 by Puebla State Governor Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas.^[1] Construction began in November 2015 and was completed in early 2017 when it was inaugurated by President Enrique Peña Nieto and Governor Moreno Valle.^[2] Initially budgeted to cost 800 million pesos, final project costs totaled 1,113 million pesos.^[3]

Route

The 17.4 km (10.8 mi) single-track route largely utilized existing rail rights-of-way to the north and west of the city of Puebla. The route began at the National Railway Museum [es] in Puebla's city centre. The first 2 km (1.2 mi) 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 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.^[3]

Operations

The Puebla-Cholula Tourist Train's rolling stock consisted of two three-car diesel-electric 38 m (125 ft)-long trains supplied by Vossloh.^[4] The trains have a capacity of 284 people.^[2] Average train speed was 30 km/h 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.^[5]

Total passengers in 2019 numbered 161,377.^[6]

Operations ended on 31 December 2021 due to a lack of profitability.^[7] The rolling stock was transferred to the Tren Interoceánico in the states of Veracruz and Oaxaca.^[8]