VISIONS Magazine (August 2026 Edition)

SC Mexico Is All Aboard for Mexico’s Passenger Rail Expansion

A new passenger rail line connecting Mexico City and Querétaro has created a significant role for Sumitomo Corporation Mexico, drawing on the company’s decades of experience in Mexico’s rail sector. SC Mexico will supply more than 18,000 metric tons of Japanese rail for the project, coordinating its movement from Nippon Steel’s production in Japan to six construction sections across the State of Mexico, Hidalgo, and Querétaro, with deliveries scheduled from August through November 2026.

pictured above: artist's rendering of the new passenger railway

 

The federal government has prioritized the Mexico–Querétaro line within Plan México, which calls for nearly 4,000 kilometers of new passenger railway routes. For Mauricio Benavides, General Manager of Sumitomo Corporation Mexico’s Steel Department, the award places the company inside a national push that reaches far beyond a single stretch of track.

“As part of the Federal Government’s priority program to expand passenger rail transportation, the project will connect one of the country’s most important economic corridors while contributing to the sustainable development and modernization of Mexico’s transportation infrastructure,” Benavides said. “For Sumitomo, this award further strengthens our long-standing relationship with the institutions responsible for developing the country’s railway infrastructure and reinforces our position as a strategic partner for future transportation projects.”

Getting that much rail across the globe calls for more than just a shipping schedule. Production, ocean freight, port handling, customs clearance, temporary storage, and overland transport all have to coordinate.

“The logistics behind this project involve a highly complex, multi-stage supply chain with several interdependent processes,” explained Benavides. “The operation begins with rail production in Japan by Nippon Steel, followed by ocean transportation to Mexico, port unloading operations at Lázaro Cárdenas, temporary storage at the terminal, and ultimately inland transportation to six different material storage and construction sites.”

 

pictured above: SCMX will deliver to specific construction sites (seen in yellow) distributed between the State of Mexico, Hidalgo, and Querétaro.

 

One potential choke point appears before the material leaves the port. Mexico’s Automatic Import Notice, or Aviso Automático, can affect customs timing and, with it, the cost and pace of everything that follows.

“One of our most important challenges is ensuring that the entire process moves quickly and efficiently while remaining fully compliant with Mexican import regulations. In particular, Aviso Automático adds an additional layer of complexity because processing times and the possibility of rejection can affect customs clearance schedules and potentially result in additional storage costs or operational delays.”

At ground level, oversized rail has to arrive when contractors need it, and each receiving location needs access, equipment, and conditions to unload it safely.

“Our experience from previous projects has helped us identify critical operational factors early in the process,” Benavides said, “including ground compaction requirements, adequate access for unloading equipment, and the importance of maintaining continuous communication with contractors, logistics partners, and authorities to ensure uninterrupted operations.”

  

pictured above: The Rising Sun vessel delivered the first shipment of rail for the project in August 2026, where it was unloaded and readied for ground transport. 

 

Benavides’ team has encountered many of those demands before. The company has conducted supply business in Mexico for more than twenty years.

“More than two decades of experience serving Mexico’s leading railway operators have allowed SCMX to develop extensive technical, commercial, and logistical expertise within the Mexican rail market,” Benavides said. “At the same time, our participation in supplying more than 120,000 metric tons of rail for the Tren Maya project demonstrated our ability to successfully execute large-scale public infrastructure projects.”

Nippon Steel’s products and Sumitomo’s project record in Mexico added another layer to the bid. The teams in Japan, port operators, transportation companies, storage facilities, unloading crews, supervisors and contractors all have a hand in moving the material, while Logistics, Treasury, Accounting, and other SCMX staff support the operation from within,

To be clear, there is no room for a weak handoff in this relay. Now that the project is underway, SCMX must connect one stage to the next successfully while keeping the overall job tied to the project’s construction needs in three states. Benavides said his team has matters well in hand.

“Our objective is clear: to achieve safe, timely, and efficient deliveries across every construction section while maintaining the highest standards of quality, compliance, and operational reliability.”