The tycoon who has everything… now also has 111 km of roads
It seems that the universe, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that the only thing missing from Carlos Slim‘s vast collection was a new little train. That’s right, the consortium of the man who probably has a hundred peso bill with his own face on it (we speculate, but it wouldn’t surprise us) has been awarded the juicy task of building a 111 kilometer stretch of the passenger train that will connect Saltillo, Coahuila, with Santa Catarina, Nuevo León. Because clearly, what the region needed was another way for the richest man in Mexico to get a little richer.
The companies Operadora CICSA and FCC Construction, part of Slim’s empire, won the work with a bid of 31,843 million pesos. A figure so astronomical that it makes buying a coffee at Starbucks sound like bartering for seeds. The most curious thing about the matter is that, from the moment the quotes were presented to the Railway Transport Regulatory Agency (ARTF), they were the clear favorites. Chance? Or does the mere fact that Slim is behind an offer automatically make it the winner? Rhetorical questions that we probably all ask ourselves.
The tender of absurdities: where cheap is expensive… for others
In this fascinating contest of “Who wants to be a millionaire?… more”, there was one offer that stood out for its, ahem, “daring”. The group of Construcciones Ferroviarias del Noroeste and Moven Construcciones had the audacity to ask for only 18,201 million pesos. How naive! Didn’t they know that in the big leagues of Mexican public works the important thing is not to be the cheapest, but to have the right friends? They were disqualified for inexperience, a reason so vague and subjective that it could very well be applied to a teenager trying to make his first omelette. Of course, because in this country, experience is measured by the size of the portfolio, not the portfolio.
The other participants also did not fall short in the festival of surreal numbers. Azvindi, from the Mexican Grupo INDI and the Spanish company Azvi, together with ICA (veterans in the endless saga of the Mayan Train), asked for more than 40 billion pesos. Meanwhile, the CAABSA and OHL consortium, which already know what it’s like to deal with the Mexico-Toluca Interurban Train, raised an offer of 34,697 million pesos. Come on, a true price bazaar where he who has the most, offers the most… and sometimes wins with the middle one.
The works have a execution period of 32 months, which in colloquial Spanish translates as “a couple of years, if there are no setbacks… which there always are.” But here comes the best: CICSA will have to prepare from the executive project. Translation? They are building the plane as it takes off. And if this wasn’t fun enough, during the bidding, the ARTF politely refused to clarify multiple doubts about how the new passenger track will coexist with the freight track that already exists and operates. Is it like asking how you will fit one more elephant into your 40 m² apartment? Don’t be a party pooper! That is a technical detail that is resolved on the fly, probably with a lot of faith and a couple of hammer blows.
In short, we are facing another monumental work that promises to revolutionize transportation… or become the next coffee table novel full of cost overruns, delays and creative explanations. But hey, at least we’ll have a new train. Or so we hope. Meanwhile, we mere mortals will continue traveling in trucks that look like sardine cans on wheels, dreaming of the day when we can board the irony express.
Are you intrigued to see how this railway epic unfolds? Share this gem of news on your social networks and join the spectators’ club! And be sure to explore more content about the great feats of national infrastructure on our site.
