Honduras Plans Ocean-to-Ocean Corridor

The concept of an interoceanic railway in Honduras dates back to the mid-19th century under President José Trinidad Cabañas, but previous administrations failed to bring the project to fruition. The current administration under President Xiomara Castro has declared the estimated $20 billion project a matter of national interest and is actively seeking international partners. The project aims to connect Puerto Castilla on the Caribbean with Amapala on the Pacific's Gulf of Fonseca via a railway. A key advantage for Honduras is the natural depth of these ports; Puerto Castilla is the deepest in Central America, and both locations can potentially accommodate post-Panamax ships, which are too large for the current Panama Canal. The construction is planned in two stages and could take up to 15 years to complete. The initial phase involves refurbishing existing rails and building new tracks to connect Puerto Cortés, the country's main Caribbean port, with a new dry port, while also upgrading highway infrastructure. The second, more extensive phase will establish the new rail link from Puerto Castilla to the new port planned in Amapala. This "dry canal" is not intended to directly compete with the Panama Canal but rather to complement it by offering an alternative route for cargo. The project envisions a network of up to 10 railroad lines and the capacity to handle massive cargo ships, potentially creating a significant logistics hub on the East Coast of the United States. Multiple nations have expressed interest in participating, including the United States, China, Spain, Japan, and South Korea. The Honduran government plans to create a public-private company to manage the project, with the government retaining a 51% stake. Honduras' existing railway infrastructure is limited and fragmented, a legacy of its development by fruit companies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries primarily for transporting bananas. Most of the original 785km network is no longer in operation, making this new interoceanic line a transformative infrastructure undertaking for the country.