Mexico hails progress on Grupo Mexico, CPKC passenger rail proposals

MEXICO CITY, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Mexico's two largest rail operators have made "positive" proposals to create passenger rail transport projects, Transport Minister Jorge Nuño said on Thursday.

Mexico's Transport Ministry said this week it had received five proposals from interested parties to participate in the roll-out of a project to boost passenger transport on railways being developed across the country.

Nuño said proposals were made by the transport arm of conglomerate Grupo Mexico and by Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC).

"We're analyzing the proposals. They were all positive. We're asking for some clarifications and as soon we finish with them we'll have a much more detailed statement next week," Nuño said at President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's morning press conference.

The government is preparing studies to build the proposed railway lines, which would offer a route between Mexico's capital and the cities of Queretaro, Leon, Aguascalientes, Guadalajara, and San Luis Potosi, Nuño added.

Mexico's railway infrastructure, covering much of the country's vast terrain and connecting to the United States, is almost exclusively used for freight transportation, but the government is looking to expand passenger routes.

Lopez Obrador, whose term ends later this year, said last November that if companies decide not to provide passenger services the government would do so. (Reporting by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Hugh Lawson)