Mexico Launches Its $29 Billion Tren Maya Railway

The Tren Maya Railway, a long awaited megaproject, was inaugurated by Lopez Obrador, the Mexican President, in Lazaro Cardenas, Quintana Roo. The railway is said to be the flagship project for the existing government.

The initiative, despite the initial fanfare during the inauguration, is yet to meet the environmental, social, as well as urban agreements entered with the Nuevo Xcan’s local community.

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Such urban agreements are components forming the master plan for the Nuevo Xcan community sustainability. It was designed by the authorities, the civil society, academics in collaboration with indigenous as well as rural communities.

It will only operate on the first completed sections of the line. The train will run from Campeche Cancun city in Quintana Roo state.

Ticket pricing

The price for the train’s range from 1,166 to 1,862 Mexican pesos. This set of rates is different from the rates that had initially been proposed. Initially, the Mexicans were expected to pay around 60 pesos.

As per the estimates, the infrastructure’s cost overruns, apart from transport charges becoming unaffordable, are nearly tripling over the initial budget that was set.

The Tren Maya megaproject’s cost

Coming at a cost of almost 500 billion pesos or $29 billion, the initiative has been fully financed with the Mexican public funds. 

According to the engineers, for the Tren Maya megaproject to be fully complete, it would take at least 15 years to execute.

Due to the influx of tourists and migrants expected, the implementation of the master plan was aimed at reducing environmental pressure as well as public service demand. 

The station is designed to be used as a visitor distribution center for the state’s northern part. The Nuevo Xcan will accommodate a station on the railway line’s 4th section.

Who is overseeing the Nuevo Xcan station’s construction work?

The station’s construction is managed by ICA. It was meant to accommodate low attendance.

As a result, concerns have been raised among the environmentalists and leaders in the community on the impacts that would potentially be caused by the arrival of tourists on the area’s environment.

The agreements, which are suspended, boosts the potential of the megaproject. This is according to the civil association Kanche director, Liliana García Ramirez. 

The authorities have been called upon to address the region’s social, cultural, environmental as well as social economic impacts. 

It is considered a model of social participation with the station’s design. The facility at Nuevo Xcan was selected as a stop in section 4 from Izamal to Cancun. If both the environmental as well as agreements won’t be adhered to, they could see the model jeopardized.