Since then, there have been several attempts to resurrect the line crossing the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The purpose of the project is to create a competitor to the overcrowded Panama Canal. It would be a rail line between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific at Tehuantepec, modernizing and extending existing rail lines. This type of project was initially proposed in 1980 again in 1997, 2006 and 2009. Versions of the project would have infrastructure built in Tehuantepec and in the nearby port of Salina Cruz. However, the project has not come to fruition with the main impediment being the large initial investment.