Mexico voids Mayan Train bid for 75 miles of tracks between Cancun and Tulum
ByYucatán Magazine
Rogelio Jiménez Pons is in charge of the Mayan Train project and director of the National Fund for Tourism Development (FONATUR).Photo: Getty
Mexico voided a tender process where just one bidder proposed to build the Mayan Train between Cancun and Tulum.
The bid was offered by a consortium that includes U.S. investment group BlackRock. Its rejection leaves no one to build that crucial 75-mile section of the 910-mile rail line.
The US$7 billion project, designed to link tourist hot spots with more remote areas of the Yucatan Peninsula, is a top priority of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. When he ran for office, he proposed the project as a major economic generator for Mexico’s less affluent south.
BlackRock did not respond to a Reuters reporter who tried to contact them after office hours.
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Fonatur said in a statement late Tuesday that the Greenfield SPV VIII proposal was “not solvent” and that it would open another bidding process for under a different scheme that has yet to be determined.
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