NIZANDA, Mexico — Eleven days after a derailment that killed 14 people, two lines of Mexico’s Ferrocarril del Istmo de Tehuantepec remain closed, with no estimate when they will reopen.
Along with the trans-isthmus railway’s Z Line, where the Interoceanic Train derailed on Dec. 28, an additional route known as the K Line also remains shut down, El Universal reports. That 447-kilometer route runs from Tonalá, where it connects with the cross-isthmus Z Line, to Ciudad Ixtepec, at the border with Guatemala. Test runs of a passenger train on that route were held Dec. 15-19, but additional tests were canceled after the derailment.
Meanwhile, TV Azteca reports that an audit of the isthmus railway project found technical irregularities in construction as well as improper payments. The report from the Superior Audit of the Federation, which audits the activities of federal, state and local governments and agencies, reports work on the railway began in 2019 without adequate planning and had to be modified on the fly.
Among the issues: planning did not adequately address elements of track construction such as the material for embankments and sub-ballast, requiring modifications that raised costs and compromised the quality of the work. The audit also determined that some 200 cubic meters less of ballast (more than 7,000 cubic feet) was used than was reported, although the railway was billed for the full amount. In all, the report found more than 8 million pesos (more than $445,000) in payment irregularities, the network reports.
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Where government goes, corruption follows. This is a truism throughout the world.
government corruption? I am shocked I tell you Shocked.