A consortium of Mota-Engil of Portugal, state-owned China Communications Construction Co. Ltd and three Mexican companies made the winning bid to begin building the Mayan Train tourist railway in southeastern Mexico, the Mexican tourism promotion agency, Fonatur, says.

Fonatur issued a written announcement on Thursday saying the bid of 15.5 billion pesos (about US$628 million) had the best balance of price and quality among the 14 in the final shortlist.

The announcement says the first stretch of the railway will run for 254 km, linking the states of Chiapas and Campeche, and that work on it must begin on April 30.

The project will create nearly 80,000 jobs, the Fonatur announcement says.

The Global Construction Review website says the Mayan Train railway will run for 1,500 km across the Yucatán peninsula and cost US$6.7 billion to build.