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MEXICO CITY, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday that his Maya Train project in southern Mexico will begin construction on Sunday on a stretch of existing rail in Chiapas state.
The dual tourist and freight rail project is planned to cover some 1,525 km (948 mile) from the archaeological ruins of Palenque, a major Maya site, to the country’s premier beach resort of Cancun in Quintana Roo state.
Lopez Obrador has said the train project will take four years to complete and will provide a boost to the economy in the five southern states the project is expected to cross, which remain less developed than Mexico’s more industrialized north.
“The (environmental impact) studies already are already in place. This will be where the tracks already exist … for cargo train service, and we won’t uproot a single tree,” Lopez Obrador told reporters at a morning news conference.
“Whatever is required will be tendered,” he added.
The project is expected to cost between 120 billion pesos ($5.9 billion) and 150 billion pesos ($7.4 billion), including both public and private investment, according to government officials.
Lopez Obrador has previously said much of the project will be paid for with revenues from tourism taxes in coming years. ($1 = 20.4148 Mexican pesos) (Reporting by David Alire Garcia and Veronica Gomez Sparrowe Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)
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