On the Maya Train's official site, a countdown marks just hours until the start of what is already considered the flagship infrastructure project of President López Obrador's government. Train operations will begin partially and only on the first completed section (which covers from Campeche to the city of Cancún in the state of Quintana Roo). In addition, the tickets are priced between 1,166 and 1,862 Mexican pesos (68 and 108 dollars), which is different from the one originally proposed and would be about 60 pesos (about four dollars) for national visitors. Not only tickets, but also the budget allocated for infrastructure has increased and, according to forecasts, has almost tripled by the time the work is completed. If completely public, the cost is almost 500,000 million pesos.
The President moved this Thursday to the place where he will launch this mega project. He is still embroiled in several disputes over the resources and natural areas through which the route passes and the impact of construction on the territorial dynamics of several surrounding communities.
One of the days most awaited by the current federal administration has come. With the inauguration this Friday, the president also begins to tackle the final months of his administration, fulfilling what he announced in 2018 when he assured that the Mayan Train would connect “one of the most culturally significant regions in the world.”
The inaugural trip, which the President will carry out in the early hours of this Friday and after his usual morning conference, will begin in San Francisco de Campeche and continue to Mérida, Yucatán, to end in Cancún, according to General Óscar David Lozano. the person responsible for the work. It will take until Saturday the 16th until the first train with passengers begins its journey at 7:00 a.m. and a second train departs at 11:00 a.m. from both points on this route – Campeche and Cancún. On January 15, a third train will be added to complete three schedules: 7:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. And on January 31, the route from Palenque to Cancún will operate three times. “The inauguration of the entire rail transport system will take place by February 29,” Lozano said. The convoy, presented in preliminary safety tests, is a standard type and can accommodate 230 passengers.
The Mayan train station in Campeche, on September 1st. Michael Balam Chan (Cuartoscuro)
The train stops at each of the 14 stations on the first route and users also have the opportunity to buy their tickets at each stop. In total, 473 kilometers of the entire system is distributed across three states: Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo, a project that covers more than 1,500 kilometers. These 14 of 34 stations will be opened first, but even with this partial premiere, not everything is ready yet; In Section 4, work is not yet completed and the finishing and roofing phases have begun in Chichén Itza and Cancún. The dedicated sections were the easiest to prepare and build from the start. Unlike section 5, which traverses the complex terrain on which the cenotes are formed and whose route has been changed three times, or section 7, which passes through the Calakmul Reserve. The President plans for the inauguration of Sections 5, 6 and 7 to occur in late February 2024.
Resistance to the mega plant
There are already hundreds of civil organizations that bring together activists, citizens, academics, artists and other members of society, such as Sélvame del Tren, Selva Maya SOS, La Selva Salva, Voces Unidas Puerto Morelos, sustainable Puerto Morelos, Voto por el Clima , the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA) or the global campaign El Sur Resiste, which continue to speak out openly against the train. More than 25 protection measures are actively promoted by these organizations and by citizens who denounce the ecocide and indifference to the imposition of tourist works that have begun to transform not only the landscape but also the social dynamics of the surrounding communities.
Just a few days earlier, one of these organizations, the global campaign The South Resists, had sent President López Obrador and the public the following questions: “We as people ask ourselves: What are you going to inaugurate?” The deforestation of the peninsula? The destruction of the cenotes? The greatest destruction of cultures? “The increase in femicides, enforced disappearances, crime and insecurity?” they released in a statement on Wednesday.
An excavator paves the way for the construction of the Mayan train in Ejido Leona Vicario in Quintana Roo in May this year. Rodrigo Oropeza
For example, groups of search mothers in Cancun have been reporting for several months an increase in disappearances in areas near citizens who have moved from states such as Tabasco, Veracruz and the state of Mexico. Mexico – to name just a few of the places where it was created – right through to the various stages of railway construction.
In addition, people, activists and organizations have denounced the militarization of all areas surrounding the sections as they are in the hands of the Ministry of Defense (Sedena). An example of this is the recently inaugurated Tulum military airport, located in the municipality of Felipe Carrillo Puerto and with an investment of 3.2 billion pesos, which, according to activists, “acts as a military base”.
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