• PUBLIC: The López Obrador Administration has discarded public-private partnership contracts (PPP) as a way to finance the 950 miles long Mayan Train across the Yucatán Peninsula and will rather rely on direct public spending for its construction.
• SPENDING: According to Mexico’s national tourism trust (FONATUR), the government will begin spend USD 1.7 billion in 2020 to finance the project which is expected to be completed between 2023 and 2024. The Finance Ministry has yet to explain where the funds will come from.
• DEBT: “What the President did not want was to leave a long-term debt. That is why it was ruled out (the PPP)”, said Rogelio Jiménez Pons, head of FONATUR. In 2019, Jiménez Pons had said he expected 30-year PPP contracts for the train.
• COST: Earlier this year, the López Obrador Administration said that the total price tag for the Mayan Train would be USD 6.3 billion according to a cost-benefit analysis. It is expected to include 30 stations and to have a daily passenger demand of 325,000.
