It has recently been made public that the Mexican government has deployed, since autumn, army troops in several conflictive areas in response to increased vandalism and robberies on rail lines and in car transport.
"The Mexican Army is providing short-term protection to the automotive industry in the state of Guanajuato," a Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCS) spokesperson told Automotive Logistics without further details.
The railway company Ferromex declined to comment on the matter.
Multiple sources suggest that up to 1,000 troops have been deployed in several conflict areas in the country, including Guanajuato and other parts of the central BajÍo region.
In December of 2015, the El Economista website reported that thieves were boarding trains carrying finished vehicles, stopping or slowing them down in a stretch between Irapuato and Celaya and stealing tires, batteries and other components.
The website quoted Mazda's executive director of production in Mexico, Keishi Egawa, as recognizing that the robberies began when the company started operations at the new Salamanca plant in 2014 and were running twice a week against parts of Mazda and others' Finished vehicles.
General Motors also saw increased damage and vandalism in vehicles transported by rail to the north.
"Damage is increasing, especially in the northwestern part of the country," said Alfonso Rodriguez, North American GM operations and intercontinental vehicle logistics director, earlier this year at the Baltimore Import and Export Logistics Summit.
"We consider these damage rates when making decisions about the use of rail or cabotage lines," he said.
The issue of vehicle damage and vandalism has been so remarkable that brand managers recently sent a letter asking for help to the country's president, Enrique Peña Nieto.
"The result has been phenomenal, with a dramatic reduction in incidents," said Chuck Kendig, American Honda's vice president of production, sales planning and logistics.
In recent discussions with Automotive Logistics, Kendig praised the efforts of the Mexican railways to improve service and quality. He highlighted the robust security systems of Kansas City Southern of Mexico (KCSM), and praised Ferromex (FXE) for its remarkable improvements.
"Despite having recently received the help of the army, we should not underestimate the level of commitment shown by FXE in this case, simply exceptional," he said.
One of the hot spots is Celaya, where Honda has a large car plant. Celaya is an interchange point between KCSM and FXE. There, trains must slow down significantly when passing close to the city center offering a good opportunity for those attempting vandalism or theft.
A bypass on the route would allow Mexican railways FXE and KSCM avoid the city, but it has been delayed for years and has exhausted its funds. It should have been completed by 2013, before the Honda plant was inaugurated. But land disputes and funding difficulties, including a reduction of the federal budget, have delayed its implementation. The Mexican Ministry of Transport has indicated that this project is a priority, however, it considers that it will be ready by the end of 2017.
"We are not aware of these negotiations, but we are confident that all parties are establishing the right framework to complete Celaya's diversion and dual access to the Honda plant by the end of 2017," said Kendig.
The commitment of the Mexican government and the resumption of the interchanges make Kendig optimistic about the railway improvement. "We see the light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
The high damage rates on certain routes in Mexico have previously led Audi in Mexico to consider alternative routes and modes of transport, such as cabotage on the west coast. In addition to exports to Asia, Audi would like to start using the port of Lázaro Cárdenas to export vehicles to the west coast of the US and Canada, destinations that have so far been covered by rail from Mexico.
"We think we must analyze these options and we are negotiating with Volkswagen from Mexico and logistics groups from Germany," Audi Mexico logistics director Peter Koltai told Automotive Logistics earlier this year. "We believe that it would help us with the problems of capacity or vandalism in trains destined for the US from central and northern Mexico."
Source: automotivelogistics.media