Mayan Train: the whims never end | Article by David Ordaz

The arguments for its construction were very clear: turn the gaze to the southeast, respect the flora and fauna, boost the local regional economy and promote tourism and cultural history.

Six years later, this chiaroscuro project is moving at a slow pace, leaving a trail of destruction and doubt that confirms that it is more of a whim than a job well done.

To understand this, you must know this. Walk through the stations, walk along its corridors, feel the passage of a carriage on rails and sleepers, communicate with skeptics and fans. The truth is that the first three years of planning for the Mayan Train are completely different from the years of its execution, and what was accomplished is forgotten.

For kilometers (and hours) the view is filled with hundreds of thousands of tropical trees, but in some places we can already see arid lands attached to roads where vegetation is unlikely to grow again or wildlife whose habitat has been invaded will pass through. through. .

Particularly worth mentioning is the passage of the train through the cenotes, where environmental damage has been proven, in many cases irreversible, and where the current government is going to initiate water quality testing and studies to find out the damage caused. , as well as how to provide mitigation measures, since no environmental studies had been conducted and no impacts were predicted due to the impact of more than 15,000 piles of concrete and steel.

Let us hope that these studies are based on technical rather than political-economic assessments.

In the surrounding area, arriving at the station is an almost grim scenario. Due to the presence of workers, national guards and some tourists, these places appear empty, without shops or shopping centers as promised and/or products that could undermine the communities’ economy with their sale.

The whim of a person to complete the work, move stations away from cities and transfer to tourist areas of any visitor and even the townspeople themselves will require additional costs for completely abandoned regions. This is why the train continues to seem far away and the bus stations (which are located in populated areas) are used more often.

Not to mention their designs, although functional, are cold, gray, and do not attract knowledge of the enormous cultural, archaeological and historical potential of this region of the country.

Six years later and 120 billion pesos more than budgeted, the government is expropriating some 70 private lands, totaling 66 hectares, for additional work on the megaproject.

Added to this are losses of more than 1 billion pesos, a 25% drop in passenger numbers, uncertainty due to traveling on poor quality ballast, failure to meet the promised 120 kilometers per hour and sometimes desperate tourists due to lack of food. water on trips lasting 5 to 6 hours, when there should be a maximum of 2.

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Local media have reported that guards at some stations are working with alarm due to the pursuit of jaguars that prowl the trails in search of wildlife passages that look more like death traps for humans and predators or tapirs trapped for miles trying to cross the trails , what day was its habitat, and also fought the stigma of being a “menace” or “harmful fauna.”

Finally, given the notoriously opaque environment in which Sedena operates and the selective way in which it reports events, Tren Maya’s operations arm issued a tender for a contract for media monitoring and analysis services to track real-time mentions in the print press. Internet. platforms, social networks and electronic media and thereby protect the public image of the megaproject and implement early warning strategies for crisis management and prevention.

Faced with a poorly executed project, with excessive costs and a noticeable lack of transparency, the hand of the new government is already beginning to be felt.