MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador plans to put four sections of a proposed train line through the Yucatan peninsula up for construction bids within the next two months.
The $6 billion "Mayan Train" will connect tourist havens like the beach resort of Cancun with less visited archaeological sites such as Palenque. Some of the tracks and rights of way on the 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) route already exist.
After an incense-infused Mayan ritual asking Mother Earth to bless the project, Lopez Obrador spoke of the jobs and development that he envisions the train bringing to the peninsula and invited private builders to participate in bidding.
Environmentalists are concerned the tracks will cut through virgin forest and jaguar habitats.
