Presidential decree orders the occupation of 112 properties for the Querétaro-Irapuato train

The President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, signed a decree declaring as public utility and ordering the temporary occupation of 326,930.902 m² corresponding to 112 privately owned properties, necessary for the construction of the Querétaro-Irapuato passenger railway. The document was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) on Thursday, August 20, 2026, in edition number 227/2026, and entered into force on the day of its publication.

The decree, issued at the residence of the Federal Executive Power on August 17, 2026, is based on articles 27 and 28 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, as well as the Expropriation Law and article 25 of the Regulatory Law of the Railway Service. It is also signed by the Secretary of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation, Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina, and the Secretary of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development, Edna Elena Vega Rangel.

A Priority Project of the National Development Plan

The Querétaro-Irapuato railway is part of the priority train “Mexico–Querétaro–León–Aguascalientes”, included in the National Development Plan 2025-2030, which envisions the construction of more than 3,000 kilometers of tracks for passenger trains. The project was declared a priority area for national development through a decree published in the DOF on November 20, 2023, and its execution is the responsibility of the Agency for Trains and Integrated Public Transport, an organization created by decree on January 13, 2026.

The temporary occupation is granted in favor of said agency, which must cover the market-value compensation for the affected properties using its authorized budget, in accordance with the appraisals issued by the Institute of Administration and Appraisals of National Assets. The technical file was compiled by the Secretariat of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (Sedatu) under number SEDATU.1S.13.I110.UAJ.005.2026.

The Affected Properties

The 112 plots are located in seven municipalities across two states:

• Querétaro (state of Querétaro).
• Apaseo el Grande, Celaya, Villagrán, Santa Cruz de Juventino Rosas, Salamanca, and Irapuato (state of Guanajuato).

The areas range from fractions of less than one square meter to plots of more than 39,000 m², such as the one identified as QI-VLN-035-1 in Villagrán. The topographic maps and the file are available to interested parties at the Legal Affairs Unit of Sedatu, in Mexico City.

Rights of the Owners

The decree provides guarantees for the owners of the assets:

• Owners will have ten business days following notification to judicially contest the amount of the compensation, in accordance with Article 11 of the Expropriation Law.
• If the properties are not used for the purpose that motivated the declaration, after a term of five years, the affected parties may request the total or partial reversion of the asset, the termination of the occupation, or the payment of damages.
• The occupation shall cease to take effect if expropriation is decreed or if the properties are acquired through any act of transfer of ownership.
• Sedatu is responsible for the registration of the decree in the Federal Public Registry of Property and in the corresponding state registries.

The measure seeks to reduce travel times and connect the city of Querétaro with Irapuato through a mixed passenger and cargo railway system, with benefits in time savings, reduction of vehicle operating costs, and increased value of the land adjacent to the stations. For the affected owners, the decree opens a compensation process at market value and legal deadlines for appeal, within the framework of one of the priority railway projects of the current federal government.

Source: Official Gazette of the Federation, no. 227/2026, August 20, 2026, Executive Branch, p. 5 (official reference: Decree by which 326,930.902 m² corresponding to 112 privately owned properties are declared of public utility and their temporary occupation is ordered).