Cancun, Q. R. — The first cars meant to run the Cancun – Merida Maya Train route are on their way. In a Monday Mayan Train progress report, Fonatur head Javier May announced the departure of the first cars.
According to May, the cars left the assembly plant in Ciudad Sahagún, Hidalgo at 5:00 a.m. Monday bound for Cancun. The cars were escorted by National Guard, who will make the entire journey through each of the states.
“The first train of four wagons left the Alstom plant in Ciudad Sahagún, Hidalgo and is on its way to the workshop and depot in Cancun where it will arrive on July 8 for assembly and the start of static tests,” he said.
The convoy is slow moving due to the oversized train cars, however, they are expected to arrive in Cancun July 8. On its way to Cancun are four cars. May explained that all four train cars left the Alstom plant in Ciudad Sahagún Monday morning and are headed to the Mayan Train garage in Cancun.
May, the General Director of the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur), said in mid-August, the cars will run as a test between Cancun and Merida.
During the Monday morning update during the Presidential press conference, he said the cars were manufactured in Mexico with the best technology, with the highest quality and safety standards.
“It is a comfortable, modern and safe train, the result of great coordination and the sum of efforts,” he added.
In total, 42 cars are being produced in the Alstrom plant in Ciudad Sahagún. The director of Alstom Mexico, Maite Ramos Gómez, said the Maya Train is the most important project and the first in the entire history of the country with 72 percent national content, one hundred percent manufactured in Mexico, by hand of Mexican work and the talent of young engineers graduated from public institutions, as well as the experience of older adults.
He said that two more trains will be delivered in August, 13 for the month of December and the rest gradually in the following months.
The Maya Train workshop is located near the Cancun International Airport where a station is also currently being constructed that, when done, will connect to the train station and airport via minibuses.
