ABC-7’s Paul Cicala Reports Along Historic Mexican Train Route That Runs From Los Mochis, Sinaloa To Chihuahua City

Despite the violence constantly making headlines throughout El Paso’s sister city of Juarez, Mexico and much of the rest of Chihuahua, the state government is working to boost tourism in the Sierra Tarahumara.

ABC-7 reporter Paul Cicala has traveled through the historic CHEPE (Chihuahua al Pacifico) train route to bring you a series of reports on some of the -positives- in our neighboring state.

The historic CHEPE train treks more than 400 miles of railroad, through a spectacular 37 bridges and 86 tunnels, and KVIA ABC-7 reporter Paul Cicala was fortunate enough to ride and film on the “nose” of the cab – smack dab in front of the train.

The CHEPE railroad is considered an engineering wonder that took decades and millions of dollars to build. It finally opened in 1961. However, because of the ongoing reports of violence from south of the border, tourism has suffered in the region the train runs: from Los Mochis, Sinaloa to Chihuahua City, Chih.

As Paul Cicala reported on the moving train: “It’s no secret that there have been isolated incidents of violence right here in the state of Sinaloa, and of course, the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. However, for the most part, tourists have not been the target of that violence. In fact, here on the train, there are scores of police officers not only inside, but, also on a number of stops.

Pedro Palma, a local tour guide, say, “The news about how unsafe Chihuahua is has been very unfair because it has scared the tourists”

Palm points out that the U.S. State Department’s warning about travel in Chihuahua is misleading because most of the violence making headlines happens in Ciudad Juarez and -not- in the heart of the state.

“One thing I can tell you in what I’ve seen is that not one single tourist has been bothered by the drug lords,” says Palma.

A number of Americans have begun visiting the region again.