Two Decades after the Privatization of the Railroad in Mexico: The Cases of Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua and Empalme, Sonora, México

Abstract

This article's main objective is to analyze the impacts of the disappearance of the railway in two locations in northern Mexico. These localities are Nuevo Casas Grandes (NCG), Chihuahua, and Empalme, Sonora. They are of special interest for their foundation in light of the start and development of railway activity in the middle of the last century, and for their importance as branches of their respective routes. To achieve the stated task, we use secondary information from official sources, INEGI and CONEVAL, to observe the evolution of social problems such as poverty and marginalization, in the face of the total suspension of the railway in NCG, and passenger trains and the General Repair Workshops in Empalme. We also carried out an exercise with the methodology of the Human Poverty Index (HPI), developed by the UNDP, consisting of identifying this phenomenon based on four social indicators: Income, health, education and housing. Finally, the opinion of some former workers is presented, which study in depth the forms of work within the railway, salaries, benefits, promotions, and their position regarding the privatization of the branch.