MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum will open the long-delayed final segment of the Maya Train project on Dec. 15, she said during a press conference last week.
Sheinbaum will visit the state of Quintana Roo to open the segment between Palenque and Chetumal. The last portions to be opened were two small segments between Playa del Carmen and Chetumal in September.
The president said the line was already “functional” and that tickets were being placed on sale, the news site Almomento reports.
The opening will close the loop of the much-delayed route on the Yucatan Peninsula, one of the chief projects of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. At one time, López Obrador had promised the line would be finished by Feb. 29; before leaving office, he had said it would be complete in September. The final round of delays were attributed to the addition of viaducts to limit further environmental damage to limestone caverns known as cenotes along the route [see “Completion of Maya Train pushed back …,” Trains News Wire, April 25, 2024].
In announcing her planned trip to open the final segment, Sheinbaum reiterated plans for work to make the route suitable for freight traffic, a project estimated to cost some 35 billion pesos, currently about $1.7 billion [see “Incoming Mexican government will need $4.4 billion …,” News Wire, Aug. 10, 2024].
Not sure what freight business can be generated in that part of the world as someone who has ventured away from the beach. Maybe inbound construction materials?
how soon before it connects to national network or is it already connected?
Was actually looking for future passenger connections planned.