Riviera Maya, Q. R. — A Tren Maya progress report released Monday detailed an average 63 percent completion of the remaining three sections in Quintana Roo.
The General Director of Tren Maya company, Óscar David Lozano Águila said sections 5, 6 and 7 are all over 60 percent complete. During the Monday progress report, he explained Section 5 north which runs from Cancun to Playa del Carmen has a physical progress of 67.1 percent in the consolidation of 43.3 kilometers of electrified double track.
Section 6, from Tulum to Chetumal includes 255.8 kilometers of electrified double track and is 64 percent complete. That section also includes the formation of embankments, the laying of rail and ballast, vehicular bridges and wildlife crossings, he added.
Section 7, from Chetumal to Escárcega registers a physical progress of 63 percent of the 254.5 kilometers of single track. Members of the Armed Forces are still working on the construction of a vehicular bridge, elevated viaduct, transversal drainage projects and four stations.
During the Monday press conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Maya Train are part of the third opening stage and will be ready for the February 29, 2024 inaguration.
“We are working from Cancun to Escárcega to completely close the entire circuit, all 1,554 kilometers. So, these sections, 5, 6 and 7, which has to do with Cancun, Tulum, Chetumal, before passing through Felipe Carrillo Puerto, also through Bacalar, Xpujil, Calakmul, Escárcega, we plan to inaugurate it at the end of February,” he said.
Lozano Águila said that the three remaining sections cross 11 municipalities and constitute a total of 621.3 kilometers from the north of Quintana Roo to the center of Campeche.
They are divided in 366.8 kilometers of electrified double track and 254.5 kilometers of single track.
The route is made up of section 5, which covers 111 kilometers from the Cancun Airport to Tulum, Quintana Roo. Section 6, which includes 255.8 kilometers from Tulum to Chetumal Airport in Quintana Roo and section 7, which adds 254.5 kilometers from Chetumal Airport to Escárcega, Campeche.
Regarding the railway freight transport infrastructure, he said there will be a multimodal terminal at the Chetumal Airport station where construction will begin in January 2024. There will also be an operations yard at the Xpujil station.
Maya Train passenger transport service will begin December 16 on the inaugural section from San Francisco de Campeche to Cancun, Quintana Roo, Lozano Águila reported.
The first train will leave at 7:00 a.m. (local time) and the second at 11:00 a.m. (local time), from Cancun and Campeche, respectively. On December 31, the second stage of the Maya Train will begin traveling from Cancun, Quintana Roo to Palenque, Chiapas. This last site will be the new starting point.
He says six trains will circulate in both directions until February 29, 2024, the date on which the third inaugural stage of sections 5, 6 and 7, which cover Quintana Roo and Campeche, will begin.
The first stage of ticket sales includes 28 trips offered between December 16 to 23. At the moment, tickets are only available online. However, the ticket offices located along the Maya Train will expand coverage in this pre-opening phase.
He reiterated that the acquisition of tickets will also be available at stations and commercial areas for short trips, while the online sales platform aimed at complete trips will continue.
The journey from Campeche to Cancun lasts 5 hours and 28 minutes and from Cancun to Campeche, 5 hours and 50 minutes due to longer stops at the Valladolid and Mérida stations of eight minutes each.
