Mexico City, Mexico — Construction for Section 1 of the Maya Train, which will run from from Palenque, Chiapas to Escárcega, Campeche, began over the weekend, however, with a reduced number of workers due to the current epidemic.
The start of construction was confirmed by the director general of the National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur), Rogelio Jiménez Pons who said “they did start but slowly and with few workers.”
Jiménez Pons says that over the weekend, numerous pieces of heavy machinery arrived and were were mobilized about 8 kilometers from Palenque, Chiapas. The machines operated on the sides of the old railways of the then Chiapas-Mayab Train.
Construction workers are using the old train station facilities as camps, he said, adding that there were meetings between the technical directors of Mota Engil México Sapi, part of the company that won the international tender for that section, with the project supervision teams in a bid to get started.
The general director of Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo (Fonatur) explained that the first section of track will consist of 227 kilometers. When complete, the Maya Train will cross the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo and offer passenger, tourist and cargo transportation.
