MEXICO CITY Mexico's president on Wednesday said he plans on announcing a decree before Nov. 20 to call for freight train companies to also use their railways for passengers.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has made the development of Mexico's passenger train travel a key pillar of his transportation and economic policies, including the construction of a multi-billion-dollar tourist train through the Yucatan Peninsula.

"This decision is going to give (the companies) the possibility of committing to having passenger trains," Lopez Obrador said in a press conference.

If the companies decide not to provide passenger service, the government would do so, he added.

(Reporting by Raul Cortes Fernandez; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Kylie Madry)