Passengers entering a rail car at Mérida Teya Station.

(ProtoplasmaKid, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

TREN MAYA

The Tren Maya (Mayan: Tsíimin K'áak, sometimes also Mayan Train or Maya Train) is a 1,554 km-long (966 mi) intercity railway in Mexico that traverses the Yucatán Peninsula. Construction began in June 2020 and the Campeche–Cancún section began operation on December 15, 2023, with the rest of the line to open later. The railway begins in Cancún International Airport and travels southwest towards Palenque, Chiapas, via two routes that encircle the peninsula.

Passengers boarding the Tren Maya at Valladolid station, Yucatan, Mexico.

(ProtoplasmaKid, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Goals

The project aims to connect tourist destinations in the Caribbean with lesser-known sites inland, including historic Mayan sites from which it derives its name. By linking the main towns in the region, with 42 trains carrying up to three million passengers a year, the line is intended to redistribute tourist flows that are currently concentrated on the coast, and to encourage the development of a region that has historically been neglected by the state.

The routes of the Tren Maya. As of May 2024, only the northern route between Palenque and Playa del Carmen via Cancún Airport is in operation.

(Original: Trainspotting34 Vector: Rajix4, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

History

The Tren Maya project was announced in September 2018 by Mexican president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, following earlier proposals to build a shorter 900-km (560 mi) line. Previous presidential administrations had also proposed their own passenger rail projects, but were unsuccessful in attaining funding. It would use existing right of way from Ferrosur as well as new tracks constructed through the jungle. The project was derided by political opposition groups as a stunt for López Obrador, who had also cancelled a major airport project in Mexico City favored by his predecessor. The Zapatista Army of National Liberation announced that it would oppose the project.

December 2019 consultation

On November 15, 2019, President López Obrador declared that a referendum on the Mayan Train would be held on December 15, 2019, in Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo.

The weekend of December 15–16, 2019, 92.3% of the people who participated in the consultation voted in favor, while 7.4% voted against the proposal. 100,940 people voted, 2.36% of the 3,536,000 registered voters in the 84 municipalities affected.

The Mexican Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights criticized the vote. They pointed out that voters were provided with only the positive effects of the project (improved attention to water supplies, health, education, employment, housing, environmental protection, and culture) but were not informed of the negative effects. The Human Rights Commission also criticized the translations of the material used, the short period of time for the election, and low turnout, particularly among indigenous women. They noted that many potential voters did not have the financial resources to travel to the voting locations, and that the majority of voters were municipal employees. The government rejected the criticisms, stating the consultation met international standards.

Progreso extension

In June 2022 Interior Secretary Adán Augusto López Hernández announced a planned extension to Progreso and Umán in Yucatán.

Funding

Funding for the project will come primarily from a tourism tax levied in the region, as well as funds diverted from other programs, including the Mexican Grand Prix.

The project, led by the National Fund for Tourism Development (Fonatur), in December 2018 was estimated to cost 150 billion pesos (US$7.4 billion) and attract 8,000 daily riders. An alternative study by a public policy think tank in 2019 estimated the cost of the project would be 480 billion pesos (US$25.3 billion), supported by the 90 percent cost overrun on the Toluca–Mexico City commuter rail project. In October 2021 Fonatur revised the construction estimate to 200 billion pesos.

In October 2020 the estimated total cost of the project, including 30 years of operating and maintenance but not including electrification, was about 321 billion pesos.

The Secretariat of Tourism will receive a 647.1% increase in its budget for 2021 (MXN $38,613.4 million), of which 94% is destined for the Mayan Train.

In December 2020 president López Obrador announced that the armed forces would operate three sections of the route, and that profits would be used to strengthen finances for pensioners and retirees of the armed forces. In March 2021 Fonatur general director Rogelio Jiménez Pons said that the military would own the entire route, not just the three sections, and would receive all of the profits. According to the government, "the use of Sedena (Mexico's Ministry of Defense) guarantees good administration and prevents the risk of privatization", in a country known for corruption.

Pons stated in September 2021 that the cost of a single trip for locals, for the section that goes from Cancún Airport to Playa del Carmen, will be around 50 pesos. Tourists will be expected to pay between 800 and 1000 pesos for the same trip. When explaining the difference in price, he stated that tourists will have additional services available, such as restaurants.

Construction

On December 16, 2018, president López Obrador conducted a Mayan ritual to commemorate the start of construction on the Mayan Train project. The railway will also accommodate local passenger traffic and freight shipments in addition to tourist functions. The first phase of the project is anticipated to open in the late 2020s, but tourism officials in the region have proposed accelerating work for a 2023 opening.

The route consists of seven sections. Section I runs 228 km (142 mi) from Palenque to Escárcega; section II 235 km (146 mi) from Escárcega to Calkiní; section III 172 km (107 mi) from Calkiní to Izamal; section IV 257 km (160 mi) from Izamal to Cancún Airport; section V 121 km (75 mi) from Cancún Airport to Tulum; section VI 254 km (158 mi) from Tulum to Bacalar; and section VII 287 km (178 mi) from Bacalar to Escárcega.

Business leaders in Mérida, Yucatán expressed their support on January 31, 2020, for building four kilometers of the railway underground as it passes through the city of Mérida. In this way, the train will not threaten the city's historic center. They are also optimistic that the tourist train, in combination with improvements in energy, airports, and seaports, will make the region economically competitive with the North and the Bajío. Fonatur later announced that the train would initially not stop in Mérida, but near a hacienda 8 km (5.0 mi) away. They said that by 2025 the station will relocate to La Plancha Park in Mérida.

Construction began in June 2020. The construction companies are Mota-Engil México SAPI and China Communications Construction Company LTD for stretch one (Palenque-Escárcega), Operadora CICSA and FCC Construcción for stretch two (Escárcega-Calkiní), Construcciones Urales and GAMI Ingeniería e Instalaciones for stretch three (Calkiní-Izamal), and Grupo ICA for stretch four (Izamal–Cancún). In September 2020 Fonatur rejected a proposal of investment firm BlackRock for the 125 km (78 mi) fifth stretch of the project, including improvements to the Tulum–Cancún highway.

In February 2021 Fonatur awarded a contract to Acciona and Grupo México for 60.3 km (37.5 mi) of electrified double rail tracks for section five between Playa del Carmen and Tulum. 75% of the 121 km (75 mi) section five is elevated and built as viaduct to protect the ground water.

As of January 2021 plans call for diesel-electric trains running at up to 160 km/h (100 mph). In May 2021 Fonatur contracted with a consortium headed by Alstom to supply rolling stock and related equipment. The rolling stock will be manufactured at Alstom's factory in Ciudad Sahagún. The contract also includes European Train Control System signaling and control equipment.

López Obrador has said the project will be completed prior to the end of his term in 2024. A market survey conducted by Fonatur, PricewaterhouseCoopers and other consultants in 2019 found that a majority of 21 construction companies consider this too fast, an unreasonable time to construct so much new rail, and others have expressed fear of a disaster caused by substandard work, such as the May 2021 Mexico City Metro overpass collapse. In January 2022, to speed up construction, the route was changed to no longer enter Playa del Carmen. As of June 2021, 10% of the project had been completed. This had increased to 25% by February 2022, and 67% by June 2023. Operations officially began on December 15, 2023.

Operations on the line were suspended from December 28 to December 31, in preparation for the extension of service to Palenque. Service resumed on January 1, from Cancún Airport to Palenque. In addition, the Chichén Itzá railway station opened in February 2024 and the Valladolid railway station was expected to open further on.

Rolling stock

The rolling stock of the Tren Maya was designed by the French company Alstom, and its 219 cars were being built in Ciudad Sahagún. Of these trains, 32 of them will be electro-diesel multiple units, 10 will be standard diesel multiple units.

Regular passenger service will be provided by the Xiinbal train, named for a Mayan term meaning “to walk”, as the regular passenger service. They will have business class seats, standard seating, and a buffet car. This service will be offered to frequent local passengers, but also to occasional passengers and tourists.

The Janal trains (from a Mayan term meaning "to eat") will add a dining car to the previous services, which will have aquatic landscapes on the outside, and an interior inspired by the work of Luis Barragán. “The restaurant offers two layout options and various seating configurations to allow optimal use of space in a beautiful setting.”

The P'atal trains (from a Mayan term meaning "to stay") will have reclining seats and sleeping cabins, designated especially for long-distance journeys.

In addition, several locomotives have been imported to Mexico to help construct the line, including eight ex-China Railway DF-4D locomotives owned by Chinese contractors, some Vossloh G2000 BB locomotives, and "older locomotives imported secondhand from Europe".

X'Trapolis Tsíimin K'áak train formation of the Tren Maya arriving at Mérida Teya station. Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, June 2024.

(ProtoplasmaKid, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Conexión Intermodal Tren Maya

The Conexión Intermodal Tren Maya is a future set of 3 electric shuttle bus connections in Cancun, Puerto Morelos, and Playa del Carmen that will link to the Tren Maya. Two lines will connect Puerto Morelos and Playa del Carmen stations with different tourist attractions of the region, while a third will connect the Cancún Airport railway station with the 4 terminals of Cancun International Airport.

Work on the Cancun Airport shuttle began in July 2023, and it was hoped that it would begin operations on 29 February.

The Cancun shuttle bus will use 7 electric buses, which have a top speed of 69 km per hour (43 mph). Although it was originally announced that they will have a capacity of 47 passengers, they only have a capacity of 18. These 7 buses, built by BYD Auto, arrived at the airport in March 2024.

Opposition

Environmental and indigenous rights activists objected to construction of new tracks through the jungle.

On the 26th anniversary of its armed uprising, January 1, 2020, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation expressed its opposition to the project and declared that the consultation provided only positive information to voters prior to voting.

Groups close to the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) plan to seek injunctions against the train project and other construction in the region. The CNI is looking at three-pronged action: social awareness campaigns, media campaigns, and legal actions. On January 28, 2020, a judge in Campeche issued a temporary injunction against construction of the railway because it was approved in a "simulated consultation." In a visit to the city of Campeche, President López Obrador defended the train and pointed out that not only had the train received its greatest support in the state of Campeche, but also that more than half the route would run through the state—worth MXN $60 billion of the $130 billion the government plans to invest in total. He said the section from Escárcega to Cancún should be open for tourist, passenger, and freight traffic in 2023, but that the route will not pass through the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve.

In November 2020 the Regional Indigenous Council of Xpujil delivered a petition with 268,000 signatures to the Campeche Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources asking that the project be suspended because of environmental concerns. Residents of Chocholá, Mérida, and Izamal, in Yucatán obtained a temporary delay in construction in January 2021 until Fonatur and SEMARNAT report on an environmental impact assessment.

On March 3, 2021, an injunction was filed by 80 people from Campeche who fear eviction from their homes. The First District Court in Campeche granted them the provisional suspension. Yucatán's fourth district court also ordered a stop to construction. The brought the total number of injunctions filed in the Yucatan Peninsula to 16 in March 2021, increasing to at least 25 by January 2022. Most of the injunctions have been filed by indigenous collectives who consider the project to be an environmental disaster. Court rulings are not binding on Tren Maya because it has been declared a national security project. The injunctions have had little effect, and construction continues. López Obrador has criticized the saliency in opposition to the train as a partisan attempt to halt his administration's infrastructure projects.

A group of celebrities, including comedian Eugenio Derbez, singers Rubén Albarrán and Natalia Lafourcade, and actress Kate del Castillo, as part of the Sélvame del Tren ("Save me from the Train", a play on words between Sálvame meaning Save Me, and Selva meaning jungle) campaign, has expressed opposition to the train.

In July 2022 residents of Chemax barricaded surrounding roads, bringing construction to a halt. They say the government has violated its agreement by clearing the jungle and failing to provide promised infrastructure.

However, according to Etienne von Bertrab, a specialist in political ecology at University College London (UCL) and co-founder of an interdisciplinary study group on the implications of the Maya Train, opposition to the project "is above all a media campaign, driven by a few collectives, but it is by no means a social movement. They have no popular support." The vast majority of the population of the states concerned seem to support the Mayan Train.

Environmental concerns

As of January 2021, workers and archeologists had uncovered more than 8,000 ancient artifacts and structures during construction.

The National Alliance for Conservation of the Jaguar has identified twelve wildlife corridors that could be constructed to mitigate the situation for the jaguars that live in the area.

The Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental environmental group has accused Fonatur of deforestation along the route, not accounted for in the environmental impact assessment and without acquiring the necessary permits. In November 2021 the Interior Department exempted Tren Maya and other infrastructure projects from environmental review.

Original plans called for electric locomotives on the trains. In June 2020 the government announced a switch to diesel to reduce costs, then in August 2020 they announced that half the route, from Mérida to Chetumal via Cancún, would be electrified.

In March 2022, Greenpeace organizers tied themselves to heavy machinery as a protest against construction in Quintana Roo that involves cutting down the jungle without environmental studies having been made.

Cave diver Jose Urbina Bravo conducts expeditions to study the train's impact on wildlife and the environment above ground and in caves. Urbina Bravo is also involved in a legal battle to halt construction.

Segment number 5 of the Maya Train network has been the most contested by environmental associations. Stretching over 110 kilometers, its completion involved the deforestation of a continuous 60-meter-wide strip – that's 2.2 million trees "felled or displaced", according to the authorities. The route of the track was modified several times to take into account the demands of environmentalists. Before starting work, the Ministry of the Environment carried out an inventory of flora and fauna, and relocated animals to protected areas.

The Mexican Center for Environmental Law (Cemda), however, denounces a project which, in its entirety, has destroyed "2,500 hectares of tropical rainforest" and directly affected twenty protected natural areas.

Social issues

Residents of 130 localities directly affected by the railroad route will benefit from "388 worksites and social actions", including the rehabilitation of pavements and roads, public spaces, electrical, sanitary and productive infrastructures, and housing.

See Also:

Railroads of Mexico

Rail Transport in Mexico