MEXICO: Revenue services have started running on the 473 km first phase of the ambitious Tren Maya project between Campeche and Cancún, following a formal inauguration by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Unveiling a commemorative plaque at San Francisco station in Campeche on December 15 before travelling to Cancún, the President described the occasion as ‘a truly historic day’, noting that the line had been completed in a ‘record time’ of five years. He was joined for the celebrations in the Campechana state capital by Governor Layda Sansores and Secretary of National Defense General Luis Cresencio Sandoval, as well as representatives of contractors Carso, Mota Engil, Indi, ICA and Alstom.
Intended to support tourism and economic development in the Yucatan peninsula, the Tren Maya project envisages the development of a 1 525 km network with 34 stations, linking Palenque and Cancún via two corridors through the states of Yucatan, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Chiapas and Tabasco.
The first part to open is the northern half of the western ‘Gulf’ corridor, which includes sections 2, 3 and 4. This broadly follows the Highway 180 corridor, passing close to Mérida and serving 14 stations at San Francisco Campeche, Tenabo, Hecelchakán, Calkiní, Maxcanú, Umán, Teya, Tixkokob, Izamal, Chichén Itzá, Valladolid, Nuevo Xcán, Leona Vicario and Cancún Airport. An electric bus rapid transit connection provides a link from Mérida to Teya station.
Alstom is supplying a fleet of 42 diesel and electro-diesel multiple-units, derived from its X’trapolis family. The 160 km/h trainsets of three variants are being assembled at the company’s plant in Ciudad Sahagún, and the first vehicles were delivered to the railway’s Cancún depot in July.
With only a few trainsets delivered so far, Tren Maya is initially operating a limited service, offering daily departures from the two termini at 07.00 and 11.00 and an end-to-end journey time of around 5 h 30 min. Fares from San Francisco Campeche to Cancun Airport are 1 166 pesos in Tourist class or 1 862 pesos in Premier class. Mérida – Cancún fares are 735 pesos Tourist and 1 174 pesos in Premier.
In November, Lopez Obrador told local media that the southern section of the route from Campeche to Escárcega and Palanque would open by the end of December. At the inauguration, he anticipated that the remainder of the network would be operational by February 29 2024. The Caribbean corridor runs south from Cancún to Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Bacalar, before turning west and crossing the peninsula to rejoin the Palanque route at Escárcega.
Describing Tren Maya as ‘a project of all Mexicans to greatly help the development of the southeast’, the President explained that it was being financed as a public investment, rather than through credit and international debt.
