Construction of the Maya Train is expected to begin in April or May, according to the head of the National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur).

Speaking at President López Obrador’s Friday morning news conference, Rogelio Jiménez Pons said the first phase will consist of five sections of track, the first of which is expected to start on April 30.

Another will begin on May 18 and two others on May 25, he said.

The tracks installed in the first phase will run 951 kilometers from Palenque, Chiapas, to Cancún, Quintana Roo, passing through the states of Tabasco, Campeche and Yucatán.

Jiménez also presented a schedule for tenders for the first two sections of the first phase, for which an informational workshop with interested companies was held on January 22.

The workshop attracted 85 companies, 20 of which were foreign, coming from Spain, Canada, Portugal, Brazil and China.

The tender for the first two sections of the track will be launched on February 7 via the government’s CompraNet online platform and the opening of project proposals will begin on March 16.

Contract winners will be announced on April 17 and the work will begin soon after.

The tender process for section three will open on February 21 and those of the other two sections will open in the following weeks.

Although a December 15 vote found overwhelming support for the train among the indigenous communities it will affect, members of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and indigenous organizations called the consultation process a sham and vowed to fight the project.

Source: El Financiero (sp)