The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has increased its investment in the Maya Train’s electricity system to 8 billion pesos.
The total cost for CFE’s 53 infrastructure projects for the electrified section of the Maya Train has therefore increased by 1.4 billion pesos (US $469.7 million) from the 6.6 billion pesos (US $387.8 million) estimated in January.
The investment includes 503 km of medium voltage lines and a total of 48 substations and 92 distribution circuits. The CFE will also supply electricity to technical booths to monitor trains’ speed, positions and track changes, as well as to stations and maintenance garages.
The CFE will electrify 690 kilometers of track, or 44% of the train’s route. The train is expected to be able to run at speeds over 300 km/h.
CFE head Manuel Bartlett said the commission’s projects have directly created 5,500 jobs and more than 8,000 indirectly.
“A system of this magnitude and dimensions has never been built in such a short time. It integrates the south-southeast with the rest of the country’s development,” Bartlett said at President López Obrador’s press conference Monday.
The CFE will build two combined-cycle plants in Mérida and Valladolid in Yucatán, with a joint generation capacity of 1,519 megawatts. A third project, the Nachi Cocom solar plant in Mérida, will electrify public transportation systems serving two Maya Train stations on the city’s outskirts.
The train’s electrical system will also increase energy availability for the region’s 2.9 million users, Bartlett said, meeting electricity demand for an area the size of the Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland combined.
The CFE’s infrastructure works will be carried out in two stages. The first, begun in July 2022, consists of building 19 infrastructure projects located across Sections 3 and 4 between Mérida and Cancún. Construction on this stage concluded late last month and it is now in its testing phase.
The second stage, which started this January, consists of 34 works across Sections 5 North and 5 South and Section 6 of the train’s route, which runs between Cancún and Chetumal. It is currently 46% complete and is expected to be finished in November. The railroad will be divided into a total of seven sections.
National Fund for Tourism Development (Fonatur) Director Javier May said that there will be 20 stations along the track, and that the infrastructure work encompasses improvement projects at 27 archaeological areas and 10 visitor service centers.
With reports from Forbes México and La Jornada Maya
