Tren Maya
Tren Maya is a inter-city 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 railway opening in subsequent stages, with the final segment from Escárcega to Chetumal beginning operation on December 15, 2024. The railway begins in Cancún International Airport and travels southwest towards Palenque, Chiapas, via two routes that encircle the peninsula.
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.History
Prior proposals
Efforts to reconnect the southeastern states of Mexico through rail infrastructure had been discussed for decades. During his presidential campaign, Enrique Peña Nieto pledged to construct the. However, the project was canceled on 30 January 2015 due to budget cuts.Yucatán Governor Ivonne Ortega Pacheco also proposed a Rapid Train and City-Rail project aimed at connecting Mérida with key tourist destinations within the state.
In 2009, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste presented a proposal to operate an electric train connecting Cancún International Airport to Tulum. Similarly, Quintana Roo Governor Roberto Borge proposed a light rail system along the same route.
Proposal
The Tren Maya project was announced in September 2018 by Mexican president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, following earlier proposals to build a shorter 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 the 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 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. A planned freight connection to the Port of Progreso has since become impossible because the construction of an elevated roadway has blocked the railroad right-of-way.Transparency
The Maya Train megaproject may not have had enough engineering, procurement and commission time for adequate operational testing. Experts also worry that the accelerated construction could be hiding structural problems. So far, the project has been linked to more than 60 workplace deaths, multiple route changes, and allegations of purchasing faulty ballast from corrupt networks.Moreover, Andrés Manuel López Beltrán and Gonzalo Lopez Beltran, are implicated in the before mentioned contractor's network that has been accused of overpricing faulty materials for the construction of the Tren-Maya- project. Verified audios of Amilcar Olan, a friend of all three of AMLO's sons, portray Gonzalo as having played a critical role in directing the contracts to the network. The allegations from the audio tapes have been largely confirmed by various documents obtained through freedom of information requests.
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 , in December 2018 was estimated to cost 150 billion pesos 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, 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, 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 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 Maya ritual to commemorate the start of construction on the Maya 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 from Palenque to Escárcega; section II from Escárcega to Calkiní; section III from Calkiní to Izamal; section IV from Izamal to Cancún Airport; section V from Cancún Airport to Tulum; section VI from Tulum to Bacalar; and section VII 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 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, Operadora CICSA and FCC Construcción for stretch two, Construcciones Urales and GAMI Ingeniería e Instalaciones for stretch three, and Grupo ICA for stretch four. In September 2020 Fonatur rejected a proposal of investment firm BlackRock for the 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 of electrified double rail tracks for section five between Playa del Carmen and Tulum. 75% of the section five is elevated and built as viaduct to protect the ground water.
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., 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
Original plans in 2019 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 May 2021 Fonatur contracted with a consortium headed by the French company Alstom to supply rolling stock and related equipment. The rolling stock of the Tren Maya was designed by 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. The contract also includes European Train Control System signalling and control equipment.
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 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 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".