It’s full steam forward for Mexico’s latest tourism venture, the Tren Maya (Maya Prepare) which celebrated its inaugural departure on December 15, 2023. The formidable, multibillion-dollar venture was introduced in 2018 by then president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who envisioned a rail community spanning 965 miles throughout 5 states. On the finish of 2023, President López Obrador noticed his venture come to life as the primary practice left the station connecting Cancún with the town of Campeche, 300 miles to the west.
Upon completion, which is slated for February 2024, the Tren Maya will function 34 stops throughout the states of Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas. For 5 years the practice has been marketed as an environment friendly solution to transport vacationers to extra distant and lesser-visited components of Mexico and as a venture that may generate jobs for Mexicans. Based on López Obrador, the Tren Maya is “an important public work on this planet.” Fonatur, the nationwide tourism fund for Mexico, projected that the railway may create lots of of 1000’s of recent jobs by 2030.
However vacationers are discovering it difficult to get the most recent details about the practice, together with the place it runs, the right way to purchase tickets, and what sections are at the moment open. Right here you’ll discover every little thing we all know proper now about Mexico’s new Tren Maya.
What sections of the Tren Maya are at the moment working?
At press time, the route at the moment accessible is from Cancún to Campeche, with an extension onward to Palenque. The stations that the practice passes by way of embrace:
- Cancún Airport
- Leona Vicario
- Nuevo Xcán
- Valladolid
- Chichén-Itzá
- Izamal
- Tixkokob
- Teya Mérida
- Umán
- Maxcanú
- Calkiní
- Hecelchakán
- Tenabo
- San Francisco de Campeche
- Escárcega
- Palenque
Finally the loop will head again as much as Cancún, connecting the next stations:
- Puerto Morelos
- Playa del Carmen
- Tulum
- Tulum Aeropuerto
- Felipe Carrillo Puerto
- Limones-Chacchoben
- Bacalar
- Chetumal Aeropuerto
- Nicolás B. Konhunlich
- Xpujil
- Calakmul
- Centenario
How do I purchase tickets for the Tren Maya?
Prepare tickets can be found on the Tren Maya web site. The hyperlink will take you to a type the place you choose your required route—proper now the one route accessible is Cancún to Palenque—in addition to your origin and vacation spot stations, departure date, and time. After deciding on your seat, you’ll then be prompted to the BBVA Mexico financial institution web page to finish the cost.
Tickets aboard the Tren Maya should not low-cost. A ticket within the common vacationer class from Cancún Airport to Palenque prices 2,118 pesos (US$122, based mostly on present conversion charges). For the upgraded Premier cabin, tickets are 3,382 pesos (US$196). The route from Cancún to Palenque, which is a bit more than 500 miles, takes 9 hours.
For comparability, a bus ticket aboard ADO, one of many largest personal bus corporations in Mexico, between Cancún and Palenque is 1,300 pesos (US$75) and may take 13 hours. To lease a automobile from Cancún Airport prices as little as $7 USD per day, and the drive time is roughly 10 hours.
What’s the onboard expertise like on the Tren Maya?
For such a steep ticket value, chances are you’ll be questioning what the onboard expertise is like on the Tren Maya. Upon completion, there will probably be three forms of rail service. Every practice can attain speeds of as much as 100 miles per hour. The automobiles function giant home windows for ample pure gentle and panorama viewing, the seats have retailers for charging units, and the practice is supplied with Wi Fi.
The common practice service known as Xiinbal, which is the usual commuter kind that’s good for brief journeys. This practice, which is already in operation, has a bar automobile with meals companies. A second practice geared towards culinary vacationers, Janal, which can launch later, will function a eating automobile that serves conventional dishes from the Mayan area. A 3rd choice, P’atal, can be within the works and is being designed for long-distance journey with options reminiscent of reclining seats and sleeper cabins.
At present Xiinbal is the one practice service that’s in operation and it options two lessons: Vacationer and Premier. The most important distinction is that Premier class has 2-1 seat configuration, whereas Vacationer Class has a 2-2 seat configuration.
A controversial venture
The Tren Maya venture is a large win for the López Obrador administration. Nonetheless, it has drawn huge criticism, together with from environmental teams. Greater than 3 million bushes had been minimize right down to clear the way in which for the route, based on The Wall Avenue Journal, which has been a significant blow to the pure habitats of native wildlife, like jaguars and spider monkeys. The practice’s route can even deliver higher publicity to Mayan communities which are deep within the jungle and have managed to evade the overtourism that has been a rising problem within the Mexican Caribbean.
Moreover, the practice prices had been additionally initially anticipated to be $7.5 billion, however they’ve ballooned to nearer to an estimated $30 billion, based on the Monetary Instances.
No matter one’s opinion is of the Tren Maya, there’s little denying that will probably be a recreation changer for tourism to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and that it’s going to have a dramatic impact on how vacationers transfer across the area and the place folks select to go to sooner or later.