In Mexico, Building a Rail Rival to the Panama Canal Jean Arce - KPVI Newsroom
go to original November 16, 2023

The government hopes the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Interoceanic Corridor (CIIT) will see 300,000 cargo containers transit every year by rail, with 1.4 million - about 33 million tons - by 2033.

At Mexico's narrowest point, linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, the government is building a railway rival to the Panama Canal with promises of economic bounty but amid fears of environmental and social harm.

The Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes already dreamed of such a crossing for humans and goods in the 16th century, but most plans came to naught and a prior, rudimentary connection was all but abandoned with the opening of the canal cutting through Panama in 1914.

Then, in 2020, work started on a new coast-to-coast link under the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.



It comprises a 300-kilometer (186-mile) railway line from the Pacific port of Salina Cruz to Coatzacoalcos on the other side of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec - a region rich in biodiversity and Indigenous heritage.

The government has announced an investment of $2.85 billion.

According to project coordinator Adiel Estrada, it has created 800 direct jobs and some 2,400 indirect ones - a much-needed injection for a largely impoverished part of the country.

Officials expect that once fully operational, by 2033, the "interoceanic corridor" would boost GDP by three to five percentage points.

"We will go... from one ocean to the other in seven hours," Lopez Obrador boasted of the project in a recent video recorded aboard a brand-new train.

Service is expected to start in December with two daily round trips for passengers, and three for cargo.

By 2028, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Interoceanic Corridor (CIIT) should see 300,000 cargo containers transit every year, with 1.4 million - about 33 million tons - by 2033.

The 80-km Panama Canal moved about 63.2 million tons in 2022.

Read the rest at KPVI Newsroom

Related: Residents Battling a New Train Line in Northern Mexico Face a Wall of Government Secrecy (Associated Press)

Related: Mexican Officials Admit Secrecy-Shrouded Border Train Project Had No Environmental Impact Study (The Associated Press)

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