It has been a full yr for the reason that Yucatan Peninsula’s Maya Practice, or Tren Maya, celebrated its inaugural departure for its first part connecting Cancun to Merida on Dec. 15, 2023. Former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador set this formidable, multibillion-dollar mission in movement in 2018.
On Sunday, Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, inaugurated the ultimate part between Escarcega and Chetumal, finishing this almost 1,000-mile rail community that runs in a loop throughout 5 states and 34 stations in Mexico.
Whereas the Maya Practice presents a brand new means for vacationers and locals to maneuver round Quintana Roo, Yucatan, Chiapas, Campeche and Tabasco, it isn’t with out its controversies.
This is all the pieces it’s worthwhile to find out about this new practice route in Mexico.
Maya Practice routes and key stations
The Maya Practice operates three predominant routes:
- Cancun to Palenque
- Cancun to Chetumal Worldwide Airport (CTM)
- Chetumal Worldwide Airport to Escarcega
Andres Martinez, director of the Quintana Roo tourism board, highlights the importance of the Cancun Worldwide Airport (CUN) station, calling it the “elemental station” and the “coronary heart” of the practice system. From Cancun, vacationers can head west to Yucatan’s capital metropolis, Merida, or south to Palenque and its misty jungle archaeological ruins and on to Chetumal, the capital of Quintana Roo, overlaying your complete southern peninsula.
At the moment, essentially the most traveled route is the one in Quintana Roo alongside the Caribbean Sea, which hyperlinks stations like Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen, Tulum (which has two stops, together with Tulum’s new airport and downtown Tulum), Bacalar and Chetumal.
Designed to be greater than a transit system, the Maya Practice’s stations are evolving into thematic points of interest. “It is not solely going from level A to level B,” Martinez mentioned. “The expertise of visiting the station will probably be one thing else.”
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The Tulum station, for example, is linked to the newly inaugurated Jaguar Park, which opened in September. This protected pure reserve options bike paths and a small museum that includes native artifacts and regional artwork — and is linked to the Tulum Archaeological Website.
Courses of service and price
The “Customary Trains” at the moment provide two lessons of service: Vacationer Class and Premier Class. Each present a cushty trip by means of the jungle and alongside the peninsula. Premier Class, nevertheless, includes a extra spacious seating association with three seats per row as a substitute of 4 and contains complimentary field lunches.
Eating and sleeper trains are nonetheless being developed for longer-haul routes, comparable to from Cancun to Palenque, an 11-hour journey.
Maya Practice tickets could be bought in any respect stations. You too can allegedly prebook on-line at this web site, although each time I put in my desired stations and date of journey, the web site advised me it was unable to discover a timetable. Tickets can value 40 pesos ($1.98) as much as 4,500 pesos ($223), relying on ticket class and distance.
Influence on tourism and native communities
Martinez underscores the twin advantages of the Maya Practice, noting that it’s “not just for vacationers but additionally for locals.” The practice offers connectivity for residents, significantly these commuting to work on the area’s resorts. “It has been a serious infrastructure facility,” he says.
The practice presents vacationers an alternate solution to discover the peninsula with out renting a automotive. It additionally hyperlinks the area’s main airports, which is a perk for vacationers who do not wish to guide pricey transportation shuttles or non-public drivers.
That mentioned, simply because it is operational does not imply issues all the time go easily. Other than the web reserving snags, The New York Instances reported in April that scheduling points and unfinished stations have left vacationers feeling confused.
Environmental and social issues
Regardless of its guarantees, the Maya Practice has been the topic of serious controversy. Environmentalists have raised issues concerning the influence of building on fragile ecosystems, significantly the jungle areas dwelling to endangered species. Moreover, activists have voiced opposition over the potential disruption to native Mayan communities, a few of whom really feel their voices weren’t adequately included within the planning course of.
In 2022, for instance, conservation teams filed complaints with Semarnat, Mexico’s environmental ministry, mentioning the federal government’s inaccuracies in assessing the environmental impacts of some sections of the practice.
“Mexican officers did not comprehensively contemplate the Maya practice’s environmental harms, however we all know it is an enormous risk to jaguars and different wildlife,” Alejandro Olivera, Mexico consultant on the Middle for Organic Variety, mentioned in an announcement. “The federal government’s evaluation did not meaningfully deal with dangers starting from bulldozing away vegetation to working the practice itself. Alongside this part’s 67 kilometers, there will probably be solely two wildlife passages for jaguars and ocelots, and 15 kilometers of monitor will not have any wildlife passages in any respect. If this goes ahead, it will be a catastrophe for a few of Mexico’s rarest animals.”
The Middle for Organic Variety has additionally mentioned that the mission violates native laws concerning dredging, filling, excavating, increasing cenotes and eradicating vegetation.
Wanting forward
Whereas the Maya Practice has confronted polarizing conversations, it has redefined journey within the Yucatan Peninsula. As the ultimate touches are made to its stations, vacationers have a complete new solution to get nearer to locations throughout southern Mexico that have been as soon as harder to entry.
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