Mexico’s controversial Maya Train route is now complete

20.12.2024 - 18:49 / thepointsguy.com / Maya Train

It has been a full year since the Yucatan Peninsula's Maya Train, or Tren Maya, celebrated its inaugural departure for its first section connecting Cancun to Merida on Dec. 15, 2023. Former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador set this ambitious, multibillion-dollar project in motion in 2018.

On Sunday, Mexico's new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, inaugurated the final section between Escarcega and Chetumal, completing this nearly 1,000-mile rail network that runs in a loop across five states and 34 stations in Mexico.

While the Maya Train offers a new way for tourists and locals to move around Quintana Roo, Yucatan, Chiapas, Campeche and Tabasco, it's not without its controversies.

Here's everything you need to know about this new train route in Mexico.

The Maya Train operates three main routes:

Andres Martinez, director of the Quintana Roo tourism board, highlights the significance of the Cancun International Airport (CUN) station, calling it the "elemental station" and the "heart" of the train system. From Cancun, travelers can head west to Yucatan's capital city, Merida, or south to Palenque and its misty jungle archaeological ruins and on to Chetumal, the capital of Quintana Roo, covering the entire southern peninsula.

Currently, the most traveled route is the one in Quintana Roo along the Caribbean Sea, which links stations like Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen, Tulum (which has two stops, including Tulum's new airport and downtown Tulum), Bacalar and Chetumal.

Designed to be more than a transit system, the Maya Train's stations are evolving into thematic attractions. "It's not only going from point A to point B," Martinez said. "The experience of visiting the station will be something else."

The Tulum station, for instance, is connected to the newly inaugurated Jaguar Park, which opened in September. This protected natural reserve features bike paths and a small museum featuring local artifacts and regional art — and is connected to the Tulum Archaeological Site.

The "Standard Trains" currently offer two classes of service: Tourist Class and Premier Class. Both provide a comfortable ride through the jungle and along the peninsula. Premier Class, however, features a more spacious seating arrangement with three seats per row instead of four and includes complimentary box lunches.

Dining and sleeper trains are still being developed for longer-haul routes, such as from Cancun to Palenque, an 11-hour journey.

Maya Train tickets can be purchased at all stations. You can also allegedly prebook online at this website, though every time I put in my desired stations and date of travel, the website told me it was unable to find a timetable. Tickets can cost 40 pesos ($1.98) up to 4,500 pesos