The Mexican railway operator has suspended train services due to the increasing number of migrants boarding the trains and sustaining injuries.

MEXICO CITY — A Mexican railway operator announced Tuesday it is temporarily suspending train runs in the northern part of the country because so many migrants are climbing aboard freight cars and getting hurt in the process.

Ferromex has temporarily suspended 60 trains transporting cargo equivalent to the capacity of 1,800 tractor trailers. This pause will have an impact on certain aspects of international trade.

The company stated that there have been a few unfortunate incidents of injuries or deaths among migrants who have been boarding freight cars in the past few days.

The company, which is owned by the conglomerate Grupo Mexico, stated that certain migrants even boarded moving freight cars “despite the significant risk involved.”

Ferromex stated that there has been a notable rise in the migrant population lately. As a precautionary measure to ensure the migrants’ safety, they have decided to halt the trains temporarily. They are now awaiting intervention from the authorities to address this issue.

Approximately 1,500 individuals were assembled at a railway depot in Torreon, a city located in the northern border state of Coahuila. Additionally, the company disclosed that roughly 800 migrants were awaiting at the cargo yards in Irapuato, situated in the north-central state of Guanajuato.

Approximately 1,000 individuals were reportedly utilizing freight cars as a means of transportation on the railway route linking Chihuahua city to the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez.

Migrants have long used the trains, known collectively as “The Beast,” to hitch rides from as far south as Oaxaca state to the U.S. border. About a decade ago, the Mexican government briefly staged raids on the trains to discourage the practice, but later largely abandoned the effort.

As migrants become more desperate to reach the U.S. border, this announcement is made.

On Monday, a group of migrants primarily from Haiti forcefully entered an asylum office located in the southern Mexican city of Tapachula.

Throngs of migrants knocked over metal barricades and pushed past National Guard officers and police stationed at the office. Some of the migrants were trampled by their colleagues in the rush.

No injuries were reported as authorities successfully persuaded many individuals to depart later on.

Many migrants, particularly from Cuba and Honduras, express their frustration as they have had to endure lengthy waits, sometimes lasting weeks, to secure an appointment at the office located in Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala.

At the workplace managed by the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance, individuals seeking refuge can submit applications for asylum in Mexico. Nonetheless, the majority of them have the intention of utilizing these documents to facilitate their journey to the U.S. border with increased safety and convenience.

The number of asylum applications in Mexico is expected to surpass previous records this year due to the increasing influx of migrants, which is putting significant strain on the governments of various Latin American countries along the migration path.

Last week, Andrés Ramírez Silva, the director of Mexico’s refugee agency, stated that the quantity of asylum requests his agency may receive this year could potentially reach 150,000, surpassing the previous record of 129,000 established in 2021.