Current:Home > NewsMexican president wants to force private freight rail companies to schedule passenger service -GrowthInsight
Mexican president wants to force private freight rail companies to schedule passenger service
View
Date:2025-04-15 20:19:58
MEXICO CITY (AP) — 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.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador denied any notion that his decree to be issued later this month amounted to expropriation of private property. He said existing law guarantees passenger trains priority.
“This is not an expropriation, it is in the Constitution and the law,” he said. ”According to the law, passenger trains have priority.”
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.
A 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.
López Obrador is known for his nostalgic love of passenger trains, and for state-owned companies in general. In September he announced the creation of a government airline to be run by the army.
In May, the government sent in marines to seize one of Grupo Mexico’s southern rail lines on national security grounds. López Obrador said the company has since reached an agreement to cede the tracks.
The pet project of his administration is the construction of a $20 billion, 950-mile (1,500-kilometer) line, called the Maya Train, which is meant to run in a rough loop around the Yucatán Peninsula, connecting beach resorts and archaeological sites.
The railway companies did not immediate respond to requests for comment on the president’s plan, in which the firms would be offered first chance to implement passenger trains.
The president did not mention whether the companies would be offered any government subsidy for passenger service.
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.
López Obrador also said the railway network would have to be electrified for passenger service; most freight trains have diesel or diesel-electric locomotives.
Moreover, issues of conflicting schedules, train speeds, stations and rolling stock are likely to arise if passenger and freight trains run on the same tracks.
In most parts of Mexico there are few inner-city train tracks or stations left. Mexico’s old government national railway company offered poor, slow service and lost huge amounts of money before the private concessionary operators took over the lines.
veryGood! (6526)
Related
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- Analysts See Democrats Likely to Win the Senate, Opening the Door to Climate Legislation
- American Climate Video: How Hurricane Michael Destroyed Tan Smiley’s Best Laid Plans
- American Climate Video: The Family Home Had Gone Untouched by Floodwaters for Over 80 Years, Until the Levee Breached
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- 7 States Urge Pipeline Regulators to Pay Attention to Climate Change
- Sia Shares She's on the Autism Spectrum 2 Years After Her Controversial Movie
- Montana Republicans are third state legislators to receive letters with mysterious white powder
- See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
- Pregnant Chanel Iman Engaged to NFL Star Davon Godchaux
Ranking
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- Wyoming Bill Would All But Outlaw Clean Energy by Preventing Utilities From Using It
- Ukraine gets the attention. This country's crisis is the world's 'most neglected'
- Sea squirts and 'skeeters in our science news roundup
- Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
- Ohio House Passes Bill to Roll Back Renewable Energy Standards, Again
- Energizing People Who Play Outside to Exercise Their Civic Muscles at the Ballot Box
- Russia's ruble drops to 14-month low after rebellion challenges Putin's leadership
Recommendation
Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
Kylie Jenner Officially Kicks Off Summer With 3 White Hot Looks
Woman allegedly shoots Uber driver, thinking he kidnapped her and was taking her to Mexico
Ryan Seacrest Twins With Girlfriend Aubrey Paige During Trip to France
Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
Trump Admin Responds to Countries’ Climate Questions With Boilerplate Answers
The Parched West is Heading Into a Global Warming-Fueled Megadrought That Could Last for Centuries
Bullish on Renewable Energy: Investors Argue Trump Can’t Stop the Revolution