FONATUR, SEDATU Sign Mayan Train Cooperation Agreement

FONATUR released a press statement detailing the signing of a cooperation agreement with SEDATU. The agreement establishes protocols for the sharing of information and resources between the two federal public institutions focused specifically on the Mayan Train project. SEDATU will play a crucial role in the logistics of urban and rural reorganization that will be necessary for the establishment of the train’s route. It will also play a role in planning the urban development around the train as it near completion.

FONATUR Director General Rogelio Jiménez Pons was quoted as saying that Mexico “lacked a balanced vision of its development, but I believe that has changed among the members of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s cabinet. They know that only in this manner can we guarantee projects and policies that are highly transcendent.”

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Mayan Train Will Reduce Poverty: UN-Habitat

UN-Habitat published a study that supported the Mayan Train project by detailing its economic and social benefits. The report claims the project would result in a 15 percent reduction in the population expected to be in a situation of extreme poverty by 2030. The study also predicts that percentages of economic growth in the region could double thanks to the project.

By 2030, the Mayan Train will generate 715,000 new jobs in the region’s 16 municipalities where the train stops and 150,000 new jobs in the rural municipalities the train will cross, these in addition to the 80,000 new jobs already expected to be created by the train’s construction, according to the same UN-Habitat’s study as reported by Milenio.  

Rail Cargo Traffic Increases

Mexican Railway System figures released this week and reported by T21 reveal that total rail cargo traffic in all of Mexico during the first four months of 2020 was at 40.59 million tons. This represents a 0.8 percent increase over total traffic for those same four months in 2019, which totaled 40.25 million tons. April 2020 is the fourth consecutive month in which these rail cargo traffic figures have been increasing, which contrasts strongly with 2019, when those same figures were decreasing every month for the entire year. This also contrasts with the air cargo traffic figures, which report significant decreases in all of Mexico’s 10 most important airports. 

COMSA Awarded Two Major Rail Contracts

Spanish infrastructure and energy group COMSA has won two tenders for rail work in Mexico. The first one covers the rehabilitation of the Mexico City light rail line between Estadio Azteca and Xochimilco stations and the second one covers the rehabilitation of rail lines in the La Mata-Colonia Jordan segment of the currently existing Transisthmic Corridor.

Public Housing Credits Available for Medical Personnel

FOVISSSTE will award 2,500 public housing credits to medical professionals through a program titled “Your House Awaits You.” These credits will be available on May 28, according to an announcement made this week by FOVISSSTE Director General Agustín Rodríguez López, who also announced that INFONAVIT’s Mejoravit credit has increased its upper limits from US$2,392 to US$5,537. INFONAVIT expects to deliver a total of 500,000 credits by the end of 2020.