The Mexican government has said the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT) is due to be fully completed in the first half of 2026, with final construction works set to finish in June this year, reports Automotive Logistics.

The CIIT project, which aims to provide a multimodal logistics service integrating Mexico’s National Port System and local administrations, interconnected through rail transport via the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Railway, was officially approved in June 2019, as an alternative to the Panama Canal.

Read More: Is Mexico’s CIIT Really Going to Challenge the Panama Canal?

In a pilot program in the Spring of 2025, Hyundai and its logistics arm Hyundai Glovis moved 900 vehicles from Asia to the U.S. East Coast, using the 303-kilometer rail route connecting the Pacific port of Salina Cruz to the Gulf port of Coatzacoalcos, according to DailyGalaxy.com. 

The pilot completed each rail crossing in roughly nine hours, with the full ocean-to-ocean transfer benchmarked at about 72 hours. 

A climate study published the same year found that the Panama Canal could face significantly more frequent extreme droughts by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions remain high.