Mexico’s national tourism body has awarded a consortium led by Bombardier Transportation a $7.4bn contract to provide rolling stock and control systems for its flagship Mayan Train line.

Fonatur (short for El Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo) picked the Bombardier team after it offered a bid that was some $44m less than its rivals.

Bombardier Transportation was bought by French rival Alstom in January, and Alstom’s Mexican subsidiary is part of the team, along with contractor Gami Ingeniería e Instalaciones and Construcción Urales. Gami, based in Juárez, is an arm of Mexican infrastructure Grupo Indi and Construcción Urales is the Mexican subsidiary of Seville infrastructure specialist, Grupo Azvi.

The Mexican government’s map of the Mayan railway

Gami and Construcción Urales also won a contract to build the 172km third section of the Maya Line.

This latest contract, the project’s largest, is for the supply and commissioning of 42 trainsets and all the hardware and software for the line’s operational systems. It will also provide maintenance depots, and maintenance services, for the trains.

The equipment is expected to be functioning in 2023, when the 1,470km line enters service. It is being built in five sections. When complete, it will connect tourist destinations and population centres on the Yucatán peninsula.

The project is being billed by Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador as the key to restarting the country’s economy after the coronavirus slump, and is also aimed at attracting investment to Mexico’s poorer southern states.