Nearly two months after the 1,500-kilometer Maya Train route was “inaugurated,” only the section between Palenque and Tulum is operational. Sections 6 and 7, which run through Bacalar, Chetumal, and Escárcega, are still under construction, accounting for one-third of the entire route.
Premature Inauguration
Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador prematurely inaugurated the project on September 29, with an event at the Chetumal station. This was largely for the end-of-term photo opportunity, despite large sections still lacking tracks and stations like Cancún still under construction.
Incomplete Sections
The Chetumal station, part of section 6, has not received any train runs due to ongoing work on the Huay Pix and Hul-Ha bridges. These works are expected to be completed by early 2025. Bacalar’s municipal president, José Alfredo Contreras Méndez, confirmed there is no start date for operations in his town.
Funding and Progress
For section 7, which runs between Chetumal and Escárcega, there is no official information on progress, except for the allocation of over 41,000 million pesos in 2025 by the federal government. Together, sections 6 and 7 represent 543 kilometers, or 35% of the total 1,554-kilometer route.
Ongoing Work
Even in sections delivered since the end of 2023, such as the Cancún-Airport station in section 4, work is still ongoing. The terminal is unfinished, and there is no date for the operation of the electric bus system that will link the Maya Train with Cancún Airport. Armando Lara de Nigris, Secretary of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development of Quintana Roo, stated that the overpass for these buses is nearly complete, but the Secretariat of National Defense will determine its operational date. The electric bus system was promised to be ready by the end of 2023, but the station remains under construction.
Source: El Economista
