Mexico restructures tender for fifth Maya train stretch

Tourism board Fonatur has modified for a third time this year the construction tender for the fifth stretch of Mexico’s US$7.5bn Maya train.

The stretch will connect Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum in Quintana Roo state.

Construction, which includes highway works, for the 121km stretch will be divided into two sections instead of three, as the board announced two weeks ago, according to an announcement on procurement site Compranet.

Rogelio Jiménez Pons, the board’s director, told daily El Economista on Tuesday that the three-section proposal was rejected, but he did not mention by who. 

He said this will be the last modification to the overall plan to award the stretch this year after an economic offer from a consortium led by US investment company BlackRock was declared void on September 8. The US firm still holds a 10-point advantage over other participants for presenting a non-solicited proposal to Fonatur at the beginning of the year. 

The tenders were published on Compranet on October 9, but the final preliminary bases will be released 10 working days after participants send their comments, the director said, without providing further details. 

A date for the reception of economic and technical proposals has not yet been scheduled. 

Each of the two sections, according to Jiménez, will include a contract to carry out the stretch’s executive project, build the electrified and double-track line and execute complementary works to widen the Cancún-Tulum federal highway 307 that will serve as the foundation for the rail line.  

THE SECTIONS 

The new plan for stretch five largely resembles the one the government published on Compranet at the end of September. 

Both sections will use the government’s rights-of-way for highway 307 to build a 15m-wide lane in the middle for the double-track rail line. 

The sections will also require the widening of the highway to three lanes per direction, one railway viaduct in each and complementary works such as drainage infrastructure. 

The first section will start at Cancún international airport, where stretch four ends, and run 49km south until reaching the northern urban area of Playa del Carmen. 

The section will cross Puerto Morelos municipality, where a 2.3km railway viaduct composed of 68, 32m-long isostatic concrete spans will be built. The section will also require 20 vehicle crossings. 

The second stretch begins in Tulum and runs north about 60km crossing the municipalities of Akumal, Puerto Aventura, Xcaret and Playa del Carmen, where it merges with the first section. 

To cross Playa del Carmen, the winning company will need to build a railway viaduct next to an existing 7km viaduct that runs across the city.

This project requires modifications to the highways running in that same direction, the tender states, adding the need to build 27 vehicles and 42 pedestrian crossings along out the section. 

STATIONS 

Four main stations are planned for stretch five, but none are included in the tenders. 

The stations will serve Cancún international airport, Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen and Tulum. 

Fonatur has already begun the bidding process for awarding the stations to the private sector in restricted contests where it invites at least three participants to bid. 

The latest tender launched involves the architectural project for the Tulum station, which the board will award on October 26, public records on Compranet show. 

Photo credit: Fonatur