The Mayan Train is a proposed intercity railway in Mexico that would traverse the Yucatán Peninsula. The railroad would begin in Palenque in Chiapas and travel northeast towards Cancún in Quintana Roo via two routes that encircle the peninsula and a route that goes to Mexico City and stop at 15 stations. The project aims to connect tourist destinations in the Yucatán, including historic Mayan sites from which it derives its name. The Mayan Train project was announced in September 2018 by Mexican president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, following earlier proposals to build a shorter line. Previous presidential administrations had also proposed their own high-speed rail projects, but were unsuccessful in attaining funding. It would use abandoned right of way from Ferrosur as well as new tracks constructed through the jungle, which caused outcry from environmental and indigenous rights activists. The Zapatista Army of National Liberation, announced that it would oppose the project. The project was also derided as a political stunt for López Obrador, who had also cancelled a major airport project in Mexico City favored by his predecessor. A public referendum on approving the project in November 2018 was passed by 89 percent of voters with a turnout of approximately one percent. On December 16, 2018, president López Obrador conducted a Mayan ritual to commemorate the start of construction on the Mayan Train project. The project, led by the National Fund for Tourism Development, is estimated to cost 150 billion pesos and attract 8,000 daily riders. An alternative study by a public policy think tank in 2019 estimated the cost of the project would be 480 billion pesos, supported by the 90 percent cost overrun on the Toluca–Mexico City railway project. Funding for the project will come primarily from a tourism tax levied in the region, as well as funds diverted from other programs, including the Mexican Grand Prix. The railway will also accommodate local passenger traffic and freight shipments in addition to tourist functions, using emissions-free locomotives on the trains. The first phase of the project is anticipated to open in the late 2020s, but tourism officials in the region have proposed accelerating work for a 2023 opening.
On November 15, 2019, President López Obrador declared that a referendum on the Mayan Train would be held on December 15, 2019 in Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo. The weekend of December 15–16, 2019, 92.3% of the people who participated in the consultation voted in favor, while 7.4% voted against the proposal. 100,940 people voted, 2.36% of the 3,536,000 registered voters in the 84 municipalities affected. The United Nations Human Rights Council sharply criticized the vote. They pointed out that voters were provided with only the positive effects of the project but were not informed of the negative effects. The Human Rights Commission also criticized the translations of the material used, the short period of time for the election, and low turnout, particularly among indigenous women. They noted that many potential voters did not have the financial resources to travel to the voting locations, and that the majority of voters were municipal employees. For its part, the government rejected the criticisms, saying that the consultation met international standards and attacked “la descalificación ni la crítica simple, sin sustento, ligera y parcializada”..
2020
On the 26th anniversary of its armed uprising, January 1, 2020, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation expressed its opposition to the project and declared that the consultation provided only positive information to voters prior to voting. Groups close to the National Indigenous Congress plan to seek injunctions against the train project and other megaprojects in the region. The CNI is looking at three-pronged action: social awareness campaigns, media campaigns, and legal actions. On January 28, 2020, a judge in Campeche issued a temporary injunction against construction of the railway because was approved in a "simulated consultation." In a visit to the city of Campeche, President López Obrador defended the train and pointed out that not only had the train received its greatest support in the state of Campeche, but also that more than half the route would run through the state—worth MXN $60 billion of the $130 billion the government plans to invest in total. He said the section from Escárcega to Cancún should be open for tourist, passenger, and freight traffic in 2023, but that the route will not pass through the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. Business leaders in Mérida, Yucatán, expressed their support on January 31, 2020, for building four kilometers of the railway underground as it passes through the city of Merida. In this way, the train will not threaten the city's historic center. They are also optimistic that the tourist train, in combination with improvements in energy, airports, and seaports, will make the region economically competitive with the North and the Bajío.
Environmental concerns
Environmentalists such as Greta Thunberg worry about the effect of development and deforestation on the global climate collapse that the train project will cause and the danger to biodiversity such as 2,000 jaguars that live in the area. The National Alliance for Conservation of the Jaguar has identified twelve wildlife corridors that could be constructed to mitigate the situation.
