High Speed Rail vs. Car vs Bus vs Air in Mexico! World Cup 2026 Race From Querétaro to México City

As much time as I've spent on this channel talking about high speed rail in the Northeast Corridor (Acela), bullet trains in California (California High Speed Rail), Shinkansen-type trains in Texas (the Texas Central), and even high frequency trains between Toronto and Montreal, it's highly possible that the first true, purpose-built high speed rail line in North America will be built in Mexico.

In today's video, we explore the Tren de Alta Velocidad proposed between Ciudad de México and Santiago de Querétaro, 130 miles to the northwest of CDMX. The government has stated the México City-Querétaro bullet train will be the next big transportation infrastructure project after Tren Maya, currently under construction on the Yucatan peninsula.

This video will follow a single person through four attempts, using four different transport options, to get from QRO to CDMX for an enormous football match at Estadio Azteca, Groundhog Day-style:

- Intercity Bus, in which we'll explore the amazing bus frequency between these two cities and the excellent Estacions de Autobus at either end of the journey
- Private automobile, in which we'll explore the challenges of parking in QRO Centro Historico and at Estadio Azteca, and look at the tolled facility that runs between the two cities
- Airplane, in which we'll review the frequency and price of planes between the two cities, and how the locations of Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México (AICM) and Aeropuerto Intercontinental de Querétaro affect the journey

And, finally, high speed rail, where we'll look at the proposed station location for QRO, Buenavista Station in CDMX, and all the service parameters contained in the environmental documentation (the Manifestacion de Impacto Ambiental).

And, of course, we'll explore the variety of connections at each end of the trip, including stations on the CDMX metro (Autobuses del Norte, La Raza, Hidalgo, Buenavista, Revolucion, Tasquena), bike share, and even ridehail.

Come along for the ride!

Other CityNerd videos referenced:
- Best City Pairs for High Speed Rail:    • Top 10 Places to Build High Speed Rai...  
- International Comparisons for US HSR:    • U.S. High Speed Rail vs. the World --...  
- Key Cities/Stations for HSR:    • The 10 Key Stations for High Speed Ra...  
- California High Speed Rail Race:    • High Speed Rail vs. Air: California E...  
- Texas High Speed Rail Race:    • High Speed Rail vs. Air vs. Car: Texa...  
- Canada High Speed Rail Race:    • High Speed Rail vs. Air vs. Car: Cana...  

Links referenced:
- Manifestacion de Impacto Ambiental for CDMX-Querétaro HSR: https://web.archive.org/web/201411040...
- Wikipedia entry on CDMX-Queretaro HSR: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tren_de...
- Wikipedia entry on Tren Maya: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tren_Maya
- News item on Tren Maya: https://yucatanmagazine.com/mexico-de...
- The Hall of Science under La Raza metro station: https://thecity.mx/venues/metro-la-raza/
- El Tri: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_...
- 2026 FIFA World Cup: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FI...
- Paris RER Trains: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9...

Image Credits:
- AeroMexico 737 By Eric Salard - N861AM, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Primera Plus bus By Busito Primera Plus - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- CDMX Metro By SerialKiller 666 RTP - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- CDMX LRT By FREDI DANIEL ALOR OSORIO - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Azteca 1986 By Karl Oppolzer - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- CDMX Metro Map By Fluence - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Paris Metro Map By Rigil - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- CDMX Traffic By Another Believer - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Metro station logos By https://www.metro.cdmx.gob.mx/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...
- Soccer ball CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Music:
CityNerd background: Caipirinha in Hawaii by Carmen María and Edu Espinal (YouTube music library)

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