Line 4 of the Guadalajara urban rail system

Line 4 of the Guadalajara light rail system will be the future fourth line of the Guadalajara light rail system. It will be 21.7 km (13.5 mi) long and will run from the Fray Angélico bus station of Mi Macro Calzada to the municipal capital of Tlajomulco. Daily ridership is estimated to be 106,000 passengers, and construction will cost 9.137 billion Mexican pesos (approximately 460 million USD). The works began officially on 22 May 2022.^[1]

Line 4
Overview
Native name	Línea 4 del Tren Eléctrico Urbano de Guadalajara
Area served	Guadalajara, Tlaquepaque and Tlajomulco
Locale	Jalisco, Mexico
Transit type	Light rail
Line number	4
Number of stations	8
Daily ridership	106,000 (estimated)
Website	linea4.jalisco.gob.mx
Operation
Operation will start	March 15, 2024
Operator(s)	SITEUR
Headway	7 minutes (estimated)
Technical
System length	21.7 km (13.5 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Average speed	30 km/h (20 mph)
Top speed	70 km/h (45 mph)

History

Original project

 

Map of Line 3 proposed by Alfaro and discarded by the local congress in 2009.

In 2009, the then mayor of Tlajomulco –Enrique Alfaro Ramírez– proposed a failed project for a Line 3 of the Guadalajara light rail to the Jalisco State Congress; however it was rejected by partisan majority. The project would have been a completely overground line, which would run towards the south of the Guadalajara metropolitan area; starting its route at the Isla Raza station of the Line 1 of the light rail running over the Miguel Topete street until its crossing with and taking over the Patria Sur Avenue. From there, it would turn east to take the Luis Covarrubias street until a small fork to retake the Patria Sur Avenue, then it would turn south running next to the FF.CC. Guadalajara-Manzanillo railway track until the Hacienda Santa Fe colony, in the municipality of Tlajomulco.^[2]

With this project it was intended to benefit to more than 700,000 people, as the zones where the line would be built on suffer from a strong recession in public transport matter. Nevertheless, the Line 4 project has been already contemplated by the SCT, with a similar route to that suggested in 2009.^[3][4]

Current project

After many years of many proposals to bring connectivity to the Municipality of Tlajomulco with the rest of the Guadalajara metropolitan area, both the then candidate for the presidency, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the candidate for governor, Enrique Alfaro Ramírez, spoke independently in their 2018 campaigns about the construction of the line 4 of the electric train towards the Tlajomulco Centre.^[5][6] After both candidates resulted elected, a López Obrador spokesman announced the Isla Raza to Santa Fe project,^[7] route that had been proposed and analysed years before during the Emilio González Márquez administration.^[8]

López Obrador and Alfaro discussed and agreed to resume this project^[9] and more studies about the route to be built were made^[10] and some adjustments were considered.^[11] The announcement of this work caused mixed reactions among the businessmen; the Council of Industrial Chambers of Jalisco presented negative to the project,^[12] while the Mexican Chamber of the Building Industry of Jalisco pronounced in favour.^[13]

In 2020, some doubts arose about the backing of López Obrador to the project signed in Mexico City by the governor and the president in July 2019. Nevertheless, the doubts were dissipated the Saturday 12 September of that same year,when in his speech for the opening of the Line 3, the Mexican President said that he endorsed the promise that he made to build the Line 4.^[14] It was planned to start the preliminary works for the new line in October of that same year.^[15][16]

In 2021 the Line 4 of the Guadalajara light rail system got once again a back turn from the president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, since there was no money designated for the works from the federal budget of 2021, as informed by the Secretariat of Finance even though the federal government said to endorse to the project. In a meeting with the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the Jalisco governor, Enrique Alfaro, affirmed that the Line 4 already had the technical studies for its construction and assured that the preliminary works would begin in October 2021.

The construction was planned for the end of October 2021,^[17][18] but the works did not start until 2022. The preliminary works began on May 6, 2022,^[19] and the formal start of the works was on May 22, 2022, with the presence of the governor, the mayors of the Guadalajara metropolitan area and some special guests. It has been planned to finish the works in March 2024, that is, in a record time of 22 months.^[20][1]

Characteristics

The line 4 will have a length of 21.7 km (13.5 mi) and a travel time of 35 min.^[21] It will run from Las Juntas in the Miravalle colony until the Municipal head of Tlajomulco in the south of the city. It will connect with the Fray Angélico bus station in the terminal of Mi Macro Calzada through a multimodal transfer centre (CETRAM), and will run on the railway right of way Guadalajara-Manzanillo.^[1]

This line will have budget of 9 billion pesos^[19] through a federal, state and private funding, and will benefit 106,000 users. The works began in May 2022 and it has been planned to finish by March 2024, opening that same year.^[1] Once open, it will become the longest line of the Guadalajara rail system.

Stations

• Las Juntas 20°36′28.67″N 103°20′26.77″W / 20.6079639°N 103.3407694°W / 20.6079639; -103.3407694
• Periférico Sur 20°34′33.56″N 103°21′18.79″W / 20.5759889°N 103.3552194°W / 20.5759889; -103.3552194
• Adolf Horn 20°33′32.004″N 103°21′57.27″W / 20.55889000°N 103.3659083°W / 20.55889000; -103.3659083
• Concepción del Valle 20°31′37.7″N 103°23′5.78″W / 20.527139°N 103.3849389°W / 20.527139; -103.3849389
• San Sebastián 20°30′27.46″N 103°23′36.27″W / 20.5076278°N 103.3934083°W / 20.5076278; -103.3934083
• La Fortuna 20°29′8.33″N 103°24′18.14″W / 20.4856472°N 103.4050389°W / 20.4856472; -103.4050389
• Centro Universitario 20°28′8.25″N 103°24′54.79″W / 20.4689583°N 103.4152194°W / 20.4689583; -103.4152194
• Tlajomulco Centro 20°27′59.47″N 103°26′22.34″W / 20.4665194°N 103.4395389°W / 20.4665194; -103.4395389

Gallery

•  

  Extension from 3 to 4 lanes on the Adolf Horn crossing with the railway tracks as part of the construction of an overpass under which the electric train will pass.

•  

  Tracks near the Tlajomulco railway station, future terminal of Line 4

•  

  South ramp of the Adolf Horn node on November, 2022, first building stage of Line 4.

•  

  Return of the Adolf Horn node on November, 2022.

See also

• Mi Macro Calzada
• Mi Macro Periférico

References

1. "Enrique Alfaro arranca las obras de la Línea 4 a Tlajomulco". Prensa del Gobierno del Estado de Jalisco. 2022-05-22. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
2. Habría línea 3 de Tren Ligero
3. "Industriales urgen a construir Línea 4 de tren ligero". Guadalajara, Jalisco. 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
4. . Guadalajara, Jalisco.: OEM. 2017-10-20. Archived from the original on 2017-10-25. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
5. "López Obrador reitera proyecto de Línea 4 del Tren Ligero". www.milenio.com. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
6. "Alfaro promete Línea 4 del Tren Ligero y abasto de agua" (in Spanish). El Informador :: Noticias de Jalisco, México, Deportes & Entretenimiento. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
7. "Anuncia Lomelí Línea 4 de Tren Ligero de Isla Raza a Tlajomulco para 2019" (in Mexican Spanish). El Occidental. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
8. "Sorprende Emilio con Tren Ligero" (in Spanish). El Informador :: Noticias de Jalisco, México, Deportes & Entretenimiento. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
9. "Alfaro acuerda con AMLO cuatro obras clave" (in Spanish). El Informador :: Noticias de Jalisco, México, Deportes & Entretenimiento. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
10. "Analizan trazos para Línea 4 del Tren Ligero en Jalisco" (in European Spanish). La Neta Noticias. 2018-08-14. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
11. Romo, Patricia. "Ajustan proyecto de Tren Ligero en Jalisco". El Economista. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
12. "Línea 4 del Tren Ligero es inviable: empresarios; el proyecto AMLO-Alfaro en Jalisco" (in Mexican Spanish). Reporte Indigo. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
13. Romo, Patricia. "Línea 4 del Tren Ligero detonaría a la construcción". El Economista. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
14. "Tren Ligero Guadalajara: Se mantiene sobre vías proyecto de Línea 4".
15. "Obras de la Línea 4 del Tren Ligero arrancan en octubre". 2021-06-29. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
16. Escamilla, Héctor (2021-06-29). "Anuncian inicio de la Línea 4 del Tren Ligero tapatío para octubre". Retrieved 2022-05-23.
17. "Fecha de construcción de la Línea 4 del Tren Ligero". Unión Jalisco (in Mexican Spanish). 2021-07-01. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
18. "Línea 4 del Tren Ligero: Obras arrancan en octubre". El Informador :: Noticias de Jalisco, México, Deportes & Entretenimiento (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2021-09-08.
19. Vega Rodríguez, Juan Manuel (2022-05-05). "Línea 4: Esto es lo que sabemos de la obra del Tren Ligero hacia Tlajomulco". Retrieved 2022-05-15.
20. "En mayo inician obra de la Línea 4 del Tren Ligero de Guadalajara; finalizaría en marzo del 2024". El Debate (in Mexican Spanish). 2022-03-30. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
21. "Línea 4. 12 años de lucha" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-06-11.