Spanish-Mexican consortium wins bid for third Mayan Train stretch

The Mexican government announced on Friday that the winner of the bid for the construction of the third section of the Mayan Train is a consortium made up of the Mexican companies Constructora Mexicana Gami and Construcciones Urales , as well as of the Spanish company Azvi .

For a total of MXN $10,192,938,694.58 , the consortium will build 172km of the platform and railway that will go from Campeche to Yucatán .

Arturo Ávalos

, director of Administration and Finance of the National Fund for Tourism Promotion (FONATUR) , asserted that the consortium “obtained the highest score” in the evaluation of the technical and economic proposal of the 16 bids they received.

“Therefore, it is awarded the multiannual contract of the comprehensive project of the public work on a mixed price that includes the elaboration of the executive project, materials supply, and the construction of the platform and railway for the Mayan Train corresponding to the Calkini-Izamal stretch ,” he said.

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This is the third bidding awarded by the Mexican government in three weeks. The Mayan Train will have a total investment of nearly MXN $120 billion and is expected to start its operations in 2024 in 951km in five southeastern states.

The first contract was awarded on April 23 to a consortium led by Portuguese Mota-Engil in collaboration with China Communications Construction Company, and the Mexican firms Grupo Cosh , Eyasa , and Gavil Ingeniería .

Meanwhile, the consortium led by Mexican firm CICSA and Spanish FCC , both owned or controlled by tycoon Carlos Slim , won the bidding for the second stretch on April 30 .

President López Obrador explained this week that there will be a total of four contracts awarded for between 800 and 900km, which will generate 100,000 jobs .

López Obrador has announced his intent to kick off the works of the Mayan Train and has asked the Health Ministry for permission to resume his tours.

The controversy around the construction of this project, that began this month, has deepened due to the COVID-19 crisis that, as of May 14 had causes 42,595 contagions and 4,477 deaths in the country.

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Although the government suspended non-essential activities upon declaring the health emergency on March 30 , it later adjusted the decree to continue with the construction of its main works, such as the Mayan Train and the Dos Bocas Refinery.

Last Thursday, the National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH) issued an injunctive relief to ask, due to the pandemic, for the “urgent” suspension of non-essential activities related to the Mayan Train.

At least 100 organizations made a similar call last month to demand in a latter to halt the works because it could affect native people in the area.

However, López Obrador has defended the project that is the main part of his plan to create 2 million jobs this year.

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