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Billions spent on freight rail improvements

The rail system in Yucatán and neighboring states is being improved with federal funds. Photo: File

Mérida, Yucatán — Trains will be carrying more cargo more quickly after work is complete next year.

The federal government is plunking 3 billion pesos on improving the railroad system that businesses on the Peninsula, and up to Veracruz, depend on.

Work begins in the fourth quarter of the year and will continue through 2018. The investment is meant to make freight deliveries 40 percent cheaper.

The state Secretary of Economic Development, Ernesto Herrera Novelo, reported that the present federal administration allocated 6 billion pesos for the modernization and expansion of the rail infrastructure in Yucatan, Campeche, Tabasco and Veracruz.

An old technology is being modernized. Photo: El Grillo

That injection of money has already created a more efficient and effective system for cargo delivery. In 2016, 1.5 million tons of goods moved without accidents or derailments. Previously, mishaps numbered about 200 a year, he said.

Trains now move at 30 kilometers per hour, as opposed to the 10-12 kph top speeds allowed on the old tracks.

Train capacity has also improved, with annual cargo volume doubling to three million tons by the end of 2018.

Entrepreneurs will also reach faraway markets more efficiently. Herrera Novelo also said that next year, the last of the federal allocation will be invested in new rail routes that help the region connect to the center and the north of the country.

Source: El Grillo

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