The Tehuantepec Isthmus Railroad (FIT) plans to transport cargo from Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and will carry out a pilot test to transport 600 cars from the largest South Korean automobile manufacturer.
“We are finalizing the contract to provide the service to Pemex. We have acquired 600 polyethylene hoppers. We already have a letter of intent that will begin producing it again in two months, so we made the investment to move three types, which will run along the line and which we will move to the interior of the country,” said Héctor Rubio Antonio, Deputy Director of Operations at FIT.
He said that this product is produced by the companies Braskem Idesa, located in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, and in the Pemex petrochemical complex La Cangrejera.
Regarding the movement of cars, he explained that the pilot test will be carried out next March for the first 600 cars that will arrive from Asia to Salina Cruz, to later take them to Coatzacoalcos and from there they will get on a ship to reach the east coast of the United States.
To this end, he explained that they have 33 automaxes and will add 250 more , as they expect to be moving finished vehicles by next June, “they will not be sold in Mexico but will be used for direct cargo, we are going to make interoceanic crossings.”
He mentioned that one of the great challenges of the FIT is that 10 percent of the total tons handled in the country by rail are moved.
He also estimated that the rehabilitation of Line K , which runs through the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas and has 472 kilometers of railway track, will be completed this year. This infrastructure includes the modernization of 526 bridges, 387 drainage works and 459 tracks, as well as the construction of three passenger stations.
He explained that the Navy is working on three fronts to complete this work, the first from Ixtepec to Arriaga, Arriaga to Mapastepec and Mapastepec to Ciudad Hidalgo.
“The physical progress of the works is almost 62% on roads, 43% on bridges, so the first rehabilitated section for cargo and passengers will be delivered by the middle of this year,” he said.
Currently, the FIT has 20 locomotives that can move up to seven thousand tons in a single train. “We want to have three-kilometer trains, carry as much cargo as possible, move it from Coatzacoalcos to Salina Cruz.”
There are also more than 10 locomotives to make movements in Coatzacoalcos, Matías Romero and Salina Cruz. They also have more than 1,300 cars, including 194 bulk hoppers that move up to 130 tons.
As well as 104 vans to transport 177 cubic meters that allow them to move palletized cargo, groceries and auto parts. 50 articulated modules for the movement of 20-foot and 40-foot containers, among other railway equipment.
“We want to create a great diversification for current and new clients, to move all their containerized cargo, bulk, agricultural, automotive, cement, oil and general cargo. And through the Asiponas Multi-Use Terminals and the Specialized Container Terminals, in 2025 we will move 150 thousand TEUs, but in less than 10 years we want to move 1000% and reach 1.4 million TEUs in 2036 without taking the rest of the cargo,” he said.
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