MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s president announced Wednesday that he will require private rail companies that mostly carry freight to offer passenger service or else have the government schedule its own trains on their tracks.
Still, almost no regular passenger service remains in Mexico following a 1995 reform that gave concessions to two private railway companies: Mexico’s Ferromex and a subsidiary of U.S. railway Kansas City Southern.Biden administration warns of major disruption at border if judges halt asylum ruleA few tourist trains run on relatively short, unconnected routes to tourist attractions like northern Mexico’s Copper Canyon and the western tequila-producing region around Jalisco.
The pet project of his administration is the construction of a $20 billion, 950-mile line, called the Maya Train, which is meant to run in a rough loop around the Yucatán Peninsula, connecting beach resorts and archaeological sites. Almost all passenger railway services in the world are subsidized to some extent; few make enough money to run on their own, and many lose money.