MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador said Thursday that that the government had extended a concession of rail operator Grupo Mexico’s Ferrosur unit for 8 years to compensate the company for the government’s seizure last month of a section of railway operated by Grupo Mexico.
BNAmericas reports the extension covers the Medias Aguas-Veracrus stretch of Ferrosur’s concession on the Tehuantepec Isthumus, in exchange for the 127 kilometers (79 miles) claimed by the government. It was based on an appraisal of the 127-kilometer stretch by a government agency.
The government sent Marines to take over the section of track operated by Grupo Mexico on May 19 [see “Mexico seizes rail line,” Trains News Wire, May 24, 2023], saying it needed the line to complete López Obrador’s plan for a rail line on the Isthmus to connect Pacific and Gulf ports [see “Digest: U.S., California in settlement talks …,” News Wire, March 23, 2021].
Reuters reports López Obrado said Grupo Mexico had also withdrawn its complaint against his Mayan Train project, a controversial tourist rail line in the Yucatan peninsula. Efforts continue in court to stop the Mayan Train project on environmental grounds, with a judge recently ordering a halt to vegetation clearing on much of the route.
Grupo Mexico operates the Ferromex and Ferrosur rail system, Mexico’s largest by mileage at about 7,500 miles. The company has also owned Florida East Coast Railway since 2017 [see “Grupo Mexico to acquire FEC,” News Wire, March 28, 2017]
