The Week in Infrastructure: Maya Train Now Tendering

This week the National Fund for Tourism Promotion (FONATUR) published the first basis for the Maya train tendering process. The first segment to be built will span the 226km distance between the towns of Palenque and Escárcega, while the second segment will run for 254km from Escárcega to the town of Calkiní.

The current plan contemplates the construction of six stations along the first segment, to be part of a total of 30 stations on the entire project. While previous announcements had indicated that this process would be international, these first tenders covering these first two segments will only be open to Mexican companies. 

These two tenders will be part of a total of seven contracting processes through which the entire circuit of 1440km will be built throughout the duration of this administration; President Andres Manuel López Obrador has restated his intentions to conclude the project before the conclusion of his presidential term in 2024. 

Ready for more? Here’s the Week in Infrastructure!

Work Begins on Libertad Dam

On Monday construction work began on the Libertad dam project in the Linares and Montemorelos municipalities surrounding Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. 44km of roads will have to be rehabilitated so as to enable access to the project’s worksite; this first phase of development will also include the construction of a bridge. 

During the official inaugural event, Governor Jaime Rodríguez Calderón guaranteed an initial investment of almost US$7 million during this initial phase of the project amidst questions from local landowners, some of which have allegedly yet to receive payment for their properties bought by the government for the project’s development. 

Mexico City Light Train Reopened

Mexico City authorities have partially reopened the city’s Light Train line after six months of modernization and rehabilitation work kept it closed to the public. The reopened segment runs from Tasqueña station to the Azteca Stadium station, with the rest of the line running all the way to Xochimilco station to be rehabilitated by the end of 2020.

Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and Director General of Electric Transportation Systems Guillermo Calderón Aguilera, claimed that these renovations will reduce transfer times in half. 

Work Begins on Line 2 of Cablebús

A second line of the Mexico City Cablebús transportation system has begun its construction process in the city’s Iztapalapa borough, to add to the first one already being built on the Indios Verdes station. 

Once completed, it is expected to move over 290 thousand people every day. Iztapalapa was chosen based on its large degree of population density and its uneven distribution of public transportation accessibility. 

6,500 Puebla public housing units to be filled

The National Chamber for the Development Industry and Housing Promotion (CANADEVI) has teamed up with INFONAVIT to fill up 6,500 of public housing units finished last year in the larger Puebla metropolitan area but which now sit empty and unsold due to cancelled subsidies. 

(image courtesy of proceso.com.mx )