Transportation
Overview
Mexico’s economy relies heavily on the country’s road network and maritime ports for the transportation of cargo. The extensive road system handles the bulk of domestic passenger and cargo surface transportation, while airports are struggling to keep up with the growth in international passenger travel. In recent years, the privatization of railroads and ports and the granting of toll road concessions have attracted substantial foreign investment and encouraged modernization of facilities.
Roads
Mexico has one of the most extensive road networks in Latin America, linking nearly all areas of the national territory. In late 2004, the country had 365,000 kilometers of roads, 105,000 kilometers of which were paved and 260,000 kilometers unpaved. The network includes 6,336 kilometers of modern toll highways. Although extensive, much of Mexico’s public road system is in poor condition as a result of insufficient investment in maintenance and an over-reliance on heavy trucks to haul overland cargo. Roads handle 59 percent of total cargo transportation and 99 percent of domestic passenger journeys.
Railroads
Railroads transport 10 percent of total cargo and play only a minor role in passenger travel. The rail system consists of 19,510 kilometers of track, nearly all of which is made up of 1.435-meter, standard-gauge line. The largest rail line historically has been the state-owned Mexican National Railways (Ferrocarriles Nacionales Mexicanos—FNM), which owns about 70 percent of total track. During the late 1990s, the FNM was broken up into regional rail lines and privatized. The newly privatized entities were granted 50-year leases to operate on the rail system’s main routes. By 2004, 81 percent of total rail traffic was handled by private companies. Mexico City maintains a subway system comprising eight lines with 135 stations and a total route length of 158 kilometers.
Ports
The maritime port system has grown rapidly from about 75 ports in the mid-1990s to 108 ports in 2005 with the expansion of international trade. The system has experienced an influx of foreign capital as a result of the comprehensive privatization of port facilities begun during the 1990s. The largest ports, located on the Pacific coast, include Manzanillo, Lázaro Cárdenas, Salina Cruz, Guaymas, and Mazatlán. Important ports on the Gulf Coast include Veracruz, Tampico, and Coatzacoalcos. During 2004 Mexican ports handled 266 million tons of cargo, including 120 million tons of petroleum and derivatives, 35 million tons of bulk mineral products, and 9 million tons of bulk agricultural products. Between 1997 and 2004, Mexico’s container ports doubled their cargo volume from 902,831 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 1997 to 1,902,560 TEUs in 2004. Passenger arrivals, driven by the U.S. cruise industry, nearly tripled from 2.3 million in 1997 to 6.3 million in 2004. Mexico’s ports handled 1,202 cruise ship arrivals in 2004.
Inland Waterways
Mexico’s 2,900 kilometers of navigable rivers and coastal canals play only a minor role in the transportation system.
Civil Aviation and Airports
Mexico’s civil aviation system is extensive and includes 227 airports—35 of which are international airports—and approximately 1,500 airfields and airstrips nationwide. During 2005 Mexican airports handled 46 million passenger journeys, 27.8 millionof which were conducted on domestic airlines and 18.3 million on international airlines. The busiest airports are Mexico City (Benito Juárez—MEX), Guadalajara (Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla—GDL), Monterrey (General Mariano Escobedo—MTY), and Cancún (CUN). Despite recent capital expenditures on terminals and runways, the largest airports are struggling to meet rising demand for air transportation services.
Source: Library of Congress – Federal Research Division Country Profile
