On June 26 the Mexican government accepted the bid by Grupo Ferroviario Mexicano SA for a 50-year concession to run the Ferrocarril Pacifico - Norte. As expected, GFM was the sole bidder, offering 4·197bn pesos for the 6200 km network and the Ojinaga - Topolobampo section of the Chihuahua - Pacific Railway. Mexican National Railways confirmed that GFM complied ’wholly and satisfactorily’ with all the requirements of the privatisation process. GFM is a joint venture of Grupo Mexico SA, which owns 76%, Empresas ICA SA and Union Pacific, each of which holds 12%.
Three days earlier, on June 23, Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana formally took control of Mexico’s Ferrocarril Noreste in a ceremony at Monterrey attended by President Ernesto Zedillo and other government officials. Several hundred guests witnessed the transfer of Mexico’s first railway to be privatised. A short time later the first TFM train moved south into Mexico via the International Bridge at Laredo, Texas.
TFM is a joint venture of Transportación Maritima Mexicana and Kansas City Southern Industries. Executive Vice President Brad Skinner says that the concessionaire will invest around US$40m on capital improvements to the right-of-way during the rest of 1997. Additional money will be allocated to rolling stock, locomotives, and end-of-train devices; Noreste currently owns 371 locos and 10665 wagons. Skinner said TFM expects US-Mexico trade to increase by 17% a year, excluding any business won to rail from road. o
