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The Government of Honduras has plans to launch the tender process for the Inter-Oceanic railway public-private partnership (P3) project in June this year. The new rail line will link the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. 

More concretely, the PPP railway project will connect Puerto Castilla, in Colón Department on the Caribbean Sea, with the Port of Amapala in Isla del Tigre on the Pacific Ocean. Puerto Castilla has a depth of 41.5 meters while the Port of Amapala has a depth of about 25 meters. It is expected that 60,000 containers arrive at the two ports daily.

The 600 kilometers railway project involves the development of four lines crossing the Honduran departments of Valle, El Paraíso, Olancho and Colón. The rail lines would be for both freight and passenger services and fiber optic cables would be deployed along the route. 

Additionally, the project will comprise the construction of a viaduct of 2.4 kilometers between Isla del Tigre and Jicaro Galán, where a logistic hub named Panacea will be developed.

The total project investment is estimated between US$5 billion and US$10 billion.

The project was firstly developed by faculty at Honduras's private higher education institution Universidad José Cecilio del Valle (UJCV) and staff from Soptravi, Honduras' public works, transport and housing ministry.

Later in July 2013, Soptravi awarded the contract to develop a pre-feasibility study for the project to the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC).

According to local sources, several companies from the United States, Spain, Turkey, China and India are interested in developing the project. It is expected that the project will improve the country's logistical infrastructure and increase freight-handling capacity.