The Mexican government has granted a Chinese-led consortium a multi-billion dollar contract to build high-speed trains and a 130-mile rail link - marking the first time China will export its high-speed trains.

The consortium, which the Mexican Transport and Communications Ministry said was the sole bidder for the project linking the capital Mexico City to the central city of Queretar, is led by China Railway Construction Corp. Other members of the consortium include China Railway International Group, China Railway Construction Corp. (Mexico) and CSR Corp. 

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The Mexican government said the high-speed rail link would take five years to construct, at a cost of 50.82 billion pesos ($3.74 billion). That amount is less than the $4.3 billion the group bid for the project, according to the Mexican government.

The contract comes just six years after China finished its first ever high-speed rail line between Beijing and Tianjin. As of the end of 2013, an estimated 10,000 km (6,200 miles) of high-speed lines have been constructed in China.

CSR Corp. will build the trains for the project in Mexico, and the three other companies will work on the train lines. Mexico's government expects the trains to run at a speed of 300 km an hour, and carry 23,000 passengers a day.

TagsMexico, high-speed rail, bullet train, China Railway Construction Corp., China Railway International Group, China Railway Construction Corp. (Mexico) S.A. de C.V., CSR Corp.