Riviera Maya, Q.R. — More than half of the Tren Maya route is officially up and running. On Sunday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador inaugurated the Cancun to Palenque route of the Maya Train.
The first trip for this route, which connects Quintana Roo with Chiapas, left from the Cancun International Airport station Sunday morning.
Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama and Cancun Mayor Ana Paty Peralta, among others, accompanied the President on the inaugural journey. The train left the Cancun Tren Maya station at 6:40 a.m. Sunday.
It marks the official opening of sections 1 through 4 of Tren Maya. Sections 5 to 7 are still under construction after experiencing several setbacks. One of the more notable delays, according to López Obrador, is due to construction complications of viaducts along section 5 south.
That section of Tren Maya has required additional construction time since a majority of the track is being built over cenotes and underground rivers. The federal government, however, says those last sections are expected to be completed by the last day of February of this year.
Last week, Tren Maya officials announced a four-day travel suspension due to the opening of the new Chiapas to Quintana Roo sections.
On December 27, the Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena) who manages Tren Maya operations, reported the closure was due to the pre-opening of the new Cancun to Palenque route.
In an official notice, Sedena said “Due to the upcoming pre-opening of the section from Cancun to Palenque, scheduled for January 1, 2024, we will temporarily suspend operations.
“For this reason, the Maya Train will not provide service to the public from 11:00 a.m. on December 28th until December 31st of this year.” As of January 1, 2024, Tren Maya service resumed normally.
