MEXICO CITY — Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize plan to create a working group to study the creation of rail connections between the three nations, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday.
The plans were announced following a Friday, Aug. 15, meeting between Sheinbuam, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and Belizean Prime Minister John Briceño.
The business news site BNamericas reports that Sheinbaum said the discussions would center on extending the Interoceanic Railroad and the Maya Train route.
The Interoceanic Railroad is the 188-mile line across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec opened in December 2023 and envisioned as a competitor to the Panama Canal [see “Mexico launches Interoceanic Train …,” Trains.com, Dec. 23, 2023].. It would be extended southeast from Ixtepec, near its current south end, to the border town of Ciudad Hidalgo near the Pacific Coast, and then into Guatemala. Guatemala would be responsible for the work, she said, unless Guatemala seeks an agreement with Mexico.
The Maya Train route, meanwhile, would be extended a relatively short distance — about 4.3 miles — into Belize, then pushed another 120 miles into Guatemala, an idea first floated by Briceño earlier this year [see “Government of Belize seeks …,” Trains.com, Jan. 13, 2025].
Arévalo said in a Friday press conference that “Connecting the Maya train with Guatemala and eventually with Belize is a vision we share, and for this, we agreed to promote the start of trinational negotiations, as well as the respective feasibility studies.” He said the three countries consider the rail development a “development solution,” and that it would avoid nature reserves in the area.Mexico, Guatemala, Belize to study cross-border rail connections
