China-led group wins Mexico bullet train bid
November 4, 2014, 4:59 am

The 50.8-billion-pesos ($3.7 billion) project involves building a bullet train line to connect the national capital of Mexico City with the growing industrial hub of Queretaro to the north by 2017 [Xinhua]

Mexico’s Ministry of Communications and Transport (SCT) announced at a press conference on Monday that the group, which includes the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) and a handful of Mexican construction firms had won the bid.

The 50.8-billion-pesos ($3.7 billion) project involves building a bullet train line to connect the national capital of Mexico City with the growing industrial hub of Queretaro to the north by 2017. Mexico’s economy is deeply linked to its northern neighbor, Brazil. Mexico sends nearly 80 per cent of local exports to Brazil.

Upon completion, the bullet train service would cut travel time from about two and a half hours to less than an hour, with trains traveling at a maximum speed of 300 kilometers per hour.

“Today the results of the bidding on the Mex-Qro High-Speed Train were released (and) the winner is China’s CRCC company,” tweeted SCT head Gerardo Ruiz Esparza on Monday.

The SCT’s director of Rail Transport, Pablo Suarez Coello, told reporters that “China’s Exim Bank will finance 85 per cent of the project”.

Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto said last year his country would like to learn from China’s experience in energy and infrastructure development given the fact that China is home to the world’s largest network of bullet trains.

“China is, without doubt, an excellent model on the issue,” he said.

“We have much to learn from its successful history in railway infrastructure.”

Mexico’s communications and transportation ministry is currently working on a five-year (2013-2018) plan to build a series of railways.

A second high-speed train is being considered to link Mexico City with Toluca, the capital of the industrial central State of Mexico.

Mexico’s economy is struggling with the country running its biggest deficit since 2009 this year.

Mexico’s currency, the peso, sank to a more than two-year low last month.

Mexico’s government relies on oil sales from state-run giant Pemex to fund about one third of its budget.

The new leadership in China and Mexico, Presidents Xi Jinping and Enrique Peña Nieto have signaled their intention to reset relations.

Xi and Nieto announced a strategic upgrade of their bilateral relationship last year.

 TBP and Agencies