Current:Home > NewsMexican president wants to force private freight rail companies to schedule passenger service-DB Wealth Institute B2 Reviews & Ratings
Mexican president wants to force private freight rail companies to schedule passenger service
lotradecoin token airdrop campaigns View Date:2024-12-26 01:26:38
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! (8548)
Related
- Bristol Palin Shares 15-Year-Old Son Tripp Has Moved Back to Alaska
- Kansas holds off Samford in March Madness after benefitting from controversial foul call
- Stock market today: Asian shares are mixed after another Wall Street record day
- Beyoncé’s Rep Appears to Respond After Erykah Badu Criticizes Album Cover
- CPI report for July is out: What does latest data mean for the US economy?
- A Nashville guide for those brought here by Beyoncé: Visit these Music City gems
- Women's March Madness games today: Schedule, how to watch Friday's NCAA tournament games
- 1 person killed, others injured in Kansas apartment building fire
- US unemployment claims fall 7,000 to 227,000 in sign of resiliency in job market
- Has anyone ever had a perfect bracket for March Madness? The odds and precedents for NCAA predictions
Ranking
- Social media celebrates Chick-Fil-A's Banana Pudding Milkshake: 'Can I go get in line now?'
- Trump's campaign, fundraising arms spent over $10 million on legal fees in 2024, as Biden spends on ads, new staff
- Annoyed With Your Internet Connection? This Top-Rated Wi-Fi Extender Is $15 during Amazon's Big Sale
- Has anyone ever had a perfect bracket for March Madness? The odds and precedents for NCAA predictions
- A teen was falling asleep during a courtroom field trip. She ended up in cuffs and jail clothes
- Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi's Wedding Will Be Officiated by This Stranger Things Star
- Drawing nears for $997M Mega Millions jackpot
- Dollar Tree is closing 1,000 stores, including 600 Family Dollar locations in 2024. Here's where.
Recommendation
-
'Business done right': Why the WWE-TNA partnership has been a success
-
Texas, South see population gains among fastest-growing counties; Western states slow
-
Police find Missouri student Riley Strain’s body in Tennessee river; no foul play suspected
-
Caitlin Clark's first March Madness opponent set: Holy Cross up next after First Four blowout
-
Walmart boosts its outlook for 2024 with bargains proving a powerful lure for the inflation weary
-
Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris Enjoy Night Out at Friend Ruby Rose’s Birthday Bash
-
Department of Justice, environmental groups sue Campbell Soup for polluting Lake Erie
-
Review: ‘Water for Elephants’ on Broadway is a three-ring circus with zero intrigue