High speed rail in Mexico is a key priority for the new President of Mexico. In a recent speech outlining a National Tourism Policy for Mexico, President Enrique Peña Nieto emphasized the need for improved infrastructure in tourist destinations.
As an example, Peña Nieto proposed the completion of a rail line across the Yucatán Peninsula linking the colonial city of Mérida to the beach resorts of the Mayan Riviera. The Mexican government plans to spend approximately 11 billion pesos on the project.
The Transpeninsular Train would feature air-conditioned cars carrying as many as 400 passengers and traveling at speeds up to 110 mph. The first stage of the railroad would run from the Yucatán capital of Mérida to Punto Venado on the Caribbean Coast, with links to the Mayan archaeological sites of Chichen Itza and Tulum.
The new focus on high speed rail in Mexico marks a change in transportation policy. With the exception of a few tourist trains, like the Tequila Express in the state of Jalisco and the Copper Canyon railway through the Sierra Madre, Mexico all but eliminated passenger rail service when it shut down the state-run Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (National Railways of Mexico) in the 1990s.
Growth and investment are higher in the Riviera Maya. New opportunities arrive. To learn more about this area contact us.
