Mexico City, Mexico — Mexico’s up-and-coming Maya Train will connect with the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The news was announced Monday morning by the General Director of the Maya Train company, Óscar David Lozano Águila.
Lozano Águila said the section 1 Tren Maya connection will allow cargo transfer. On Monday during the Presidential press conference, he explained that the train will connect from Palenque, Chiapas, to Escárcega, Campeche.
He explained that in section 1, two important facilities are planned for the Maya Train loading system. The first is an exchange terminal that will be built starting next year, in Palenque, which will connect the CIIT with the Maya Train.
The second project, he said, is an operations yard in Escárcega, Campeche, which will allow the transport of fuel, cement, steel, grains, perishables and even vehicles, among other goods.
He explained that section 1 (Tramo 1) of the Maya Train runs 226 kilometers of track with six stations located in Palenque, Boca del Cerro, Tenosique, El Triunfo, Candelaria and Escárcega. It will pass through the municipalities of Palenque and La Libertad, in Chiapas, Tenosique, Emiliano Zapata and Balancán, in Tabasco as well as Candelaria and Escárcega, in Campeche.
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec Interoceanic Corridor (CIIT) is a federal project that began in June of 2019. The connected rail system will provide a rail link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The rail link will be an alternative to the Panama Canal, which is known to be highly congested. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. At one time, before the opening of the Panama Canal, it was a major overland transport route, the Tehuantepec Route.
With the nearing completion of Tren Maya in the southeast, the government of Mexico says the two will be connected and used for cargo transport. During the Monday morning Presidential press conference, neither Óscar David Lozano Águila or President Andrés Manuel López Obrador offered details surrounding the connecting rail routes.
Earlier in September, López Obrador confirmed his commitment to return train services in and around Mexico.
