Maya train cost could hit close to US$10bn

Investment in Mexico’s Maya passenger and freight rail project could reach 200bn pesos (US$9.8bn), some 33% more than what was originally contemplated by the government, according to the official in charge of overseeing its construction and promotion. 

National tourism board Fonatur director Rogelio Jiménez Pons told local paper Milenio that the increase is related to the government’s decision to electrify 690km, or 43% of the 1,500km line that will connect five southeastern states, in addition to building a double-track line on three of the seven stretches. 

Jiménez said the changes are meant to increase the project’s capacity and impact, and so the increased cost is justified. 

He added that the government has the land and resources to build the project even with the changes. The deadline to complete the work is still December 2023. 

Fonatur’s decision to electrify and construct a double-track line on stretches four, five and six in Yucatán and Quintana Roo state – expected to have the most tourist demand – was first reported in August 2020. 

At the time, Jiménez told BNamericas the changes would add 25bn pesos (US$1.14bn) to the cost of the project, which was originally estimated at US$6.7bn.

In its 2021 budget, the federal government said the price tag was 161bn pesos.

NEW ROUTE

Also this week, Jiménez told a press conference that the rail line's route has experienced a major change in Campeche state, where residents of state capital San Francisco de Campeche opposed Fonatur’s plans to build the rail line through their city.

The change will avoid the need to relocate 300 families and save the government 2bn pesos, he said. 

So stretch two between Escárcega and Calkiní in Campeche state will remain almost the same, with the exception that the line will now circle Campeche city instead of crossing it. 

The 18.6bn-peso contract to build the 235km stretch two was awarded to Carso Infraestructura y Construcción (Cicsa), the infrastructure branch of Grupo Carso, and Spain’s FCC Construcción. Both are controlled by the family of business mogul Carlos Slim.