MEXICO CITY — Kansas City Southern, rail company Ferromex, and bus company Autobuses de Oriente have already expressed interest in operating Mexico’s Maya train project, even though construction has not yet begun, according to Latin America business site BNamericas.
The $6.3-billion project would build a 900-mile tourist route on the Yucatan Peninsula, connecting archaeological sites, tourist areas, and indigenous communities in five states. Intentions are for the government to build the line, but for a private-sector firm to operate it.
The head of Mexico’s national tourism board, Fonatur, said the companies had expressed interest in operating the route during a Dec. 18 ceremony to mark an agreement with UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO will oversee construction of the line to ensure the archealogical sites along the route are not damaged.
Mexico’s government has secured about half the funding for the project, BNamericas reports, with the rest to come from tourism fees. The government is aiming to complete the project by 2024.
Seriously a tourist line in Mexico, did everyone forget about the ambush of Mormen families recently ,the cartels run rampid thru out the country, they would be stopping the trains and robbing the people or even killing them , not a good idea, KCS better get their heads out of their BUTTS and give it a second look at this dumb idea !
Hey Trains editors! How about a map? That would be just grand.
I would ride it.
I lived in central Mexico for a while, near Tula in Hidalgo, and it was actually quite pleasant. When you get away from the border Mexico has a lot to recommend it. Of course these days with the cartels and the drug wars there is that, but they don’t usually bother the locals.
The above comments are generic in nature and do not form the basis for an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Y su madre lleves bootes militares tambien.
The most obvious choice is for the Chinese to build it. Hopefully the China Rail construction organization has become a little more sophisticated in their relations with locals.
@ Penelope Vinson- Ferromex is not a subsidiary of KCS, but UP has a 26% share in Ferromex.
Southern (of the border) Belle
With infrastructure support from governments enjoyed by airlines and highway carriers, private railway companies can be encouraged to return to operating passenger trains. Dignity, glamour and variety would return to train travel that government operations fail to deliver.
My best wishes goes to Kansas City Southern’s subsidiary Ferromex to win the operating contract. I remember seeing KCS’s black varnish, trimmed in red and yellow stripes with silver roofs, parked in the coach yard at New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal as Mother and I were arriving on board L&N’s blue varnish, the ‘Pan American’.
Wow, hope it happens, I’d ride it!
900 miles? That’s a really long ride! Hope they have good sleepers or hotels.