Mayan Train Project

BY DARÍO REYNA

The Mayan Train is a megaproject of the federal government of a railway line in Mexico for the transport of passengers and cargo through the Yucatan Peninsula as part of the expansion of the national railway network.

This infrastructure work has been under development since December 2018. It is planned as a regional train for locals, tourists, and cargo that begins in early 2024.

It was presented to the governors of the Mexican southeast on September 10, 2018. It is intended that this train offers three types of service: mass transportation, tourist transportation, and freight transportation.

The line begins in Palenque in Chiapas and travels northeast to Cancún in Quintana Roo via two routes that circle the peninsula.

The project aims to connect tourist destinations in the Caribbean with lesser-known sites inland, including historic Mayan sites from which they derive their name.

The Mayan Train project (Tsíimin K’áak, in the Mayan language) will be one of the most important infrastructure works in the history of the Mexican rail network and a unique opportunity to boost economic growth in the southeast region by creating jobs and support for local manufacturing, while preserving natural areas, ecosystems and the environment, promoting tourism and safeguarding local indigenous cultures.

In May 2021, the consortium made up of Alstom Transport Mexico, Bombardier Transportation México, Gami Ingeniería e Instalaciones and Construcciones Urales Procesos Industriales won the international public tender for the contract for 1,000 million euros, issued by the National Fund for Tourism Promotion (Fonatur ), government agency responsible for the Mayan Train. This contract is to design, build and deliver 42 X’trapolisTM trains, the railway systems, workshops and depots that will be part of this emblematic project of the government of Mexico.

The first section of the Mayan Train will start operating in December 2023, transporting both locals and tourists. The train will travel 1,545 kilometers, connecting the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo.

One of the main reasons why the consortium was selected was to have been able to guarantee that the 42 trains will be manufactured locally, which will be carried out at the Ciudad Sahagún plant, in the state of Hidalgo (located in the central area of the territory national), thus achieving the objective of being a «Train for Mexico, built in Mexico».