He was supposed to December 16, 2023 It was going to mark a before and after in the history of Mexico. After years of efforts and works (also controversies) that day it began to circulate between Campeche and Cancún the Mayan Train“a magnum opus”, in words of the then president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who aspired to promote the development of some of the most impoverished regions in the southeast of the country. Almost two and a half years later, December 16, 2023 is however remembered for another, very different reason: the beginning of a huge disappointment.
one who we are getting to know little by little.
“No real benefit”. That things are not going well good at all The Mayan Train is nothing new. In December The Country public a chronicle in which he revealed that, at least during its beginnings, the service has carried many fewer passengers than expected. What is new is the approach that just contributed Reuters: Your reporters have traveled part of the route, speaking with locals, and have verified something worrying: it is no longer just that the train moves few passengers, it is that the growth that it promised is not noticeable either. “We don’t get any real benefit,” admits a woman in Quintana Roo.
The Mayan Train, let us remember, was launched in December 2023 with an inaugural route between Campeche-Cancún. A year later, with Claudia Sheinbaum at the head of the Government, added more routes. In total it offers a circuit of more than 1,500 km that crosses Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo, where some of the poorest regions of Mexico are located.
Today the project continues to undergo important changes. In fact, the process was recently completed for its control to pass at the hands of the army. This same year, justice has also reminded the Government that it must respect the law in the development of “Section 5”, between Tulum and Cancún. It is estimated that the overall train budget already exceeds 25 billion of dollars.
A complicated debut. The objective of such a megaproject was to provide the southeast of the country with an infrastructure capable of improving its transportation and tourism. “Economic and tourism development”, summarized in 2023 López Obrador. During its visit to the area, Reuters has however encountered a quite different reality: local communities that, despite being located near the railway, have barely noticed its effects. The agency speaks of residents still unable to escape poverty, lack of well-paid work and absence of basic services.
Reuters spoke, for example, with a woman from Vida y Esperanza, in the state of Quintana Roo, who lives in a curious paradox: the train’s power lines pass almost above her house, but to have energy she needs a solar panel and a rented generator. In the same area there is a school, located near a railway depot, which also lacks a stable electricity supply. The reason: problems with property titles, something common in rural areas, but which the center hoped would change thanks to the megaproject.
“Empty words”. Quintana Roo is not the only point on the route where Reuters has found locals frustrated with the Mayan Train. In Xpujil, another town in Campeche near the tracks, a 50-year-old farmer complains of chronic water shortages, a problem that the Mexican government promised would be solved when it inaugurated the Adolfo López Mateos-Xpujil aqueduct. His faucet, however, still doesn’t release a drop. “They were empty words,” resume the farmer told Reuters, who estimates that only 70% of Campeche’s population has access to running water. Those who are not so lucky must look outside.
A percentage: 13.2%. The agency also provides information that has been echoed by media outlets such as The Impartial and that helps to understand the reach that, at least for the moment, the Mayan Train is having. During the construction of the megaproject, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) recorded an economic growth of 13.2% in Quintana Roo, a percentage that is mainly explained by investments in infrastructure. That momentum didn’t last long. In the first months of 2025, the curve inverted, changing the trend: from growth to an economic contraction of around 9.7%.
It is not the only percentage that invites us to reflect. Although Quinta Roo managed to reduce unemployment and improve its formal hiring data, most of the workers of Yucatán (60%) continue in informal jobs. At the moment the Mayan Train does not seem to have corrected it. Nor has its activity promoted the hotels promoted in the area in the heat of the railway megaproject.
For most of 2025, its monthly occupancy rates were, on average, between 5 and 24%. One of Calakmul’s accommodations was barely 20% full when Reuters reporters visited it a few months ago.
The challenge: connect with travelers. The underlying problem is that the Mayan Train is having a hard time connecting with the two large markets from which it must supply travelers: local residents and foreign tourists. In December The Country revealed which, during its premiere, registered much lower demand than expected.
If the National Tourism Promotion Fund expected that in its first year of operations the Mayan Train would transport 74,000 people a day, the reality is that it stayed at around 3,200. That is, 5%. In your latest report Reuters reveals that the “photo” has not improved much: the income it generated last year did not even cover 13% of the service’s operating costs.
What does the Government say? From the Government the discourse is something different. Last summer the Executive claimed that the train was going “very well” and specified that, since its debut, the service had accumulated more than 1.5 million users. “Some sections are more used than others, remember that more trains are about to arrive, which will give greater capacity to operate with a greater number of passengers throughout the peninsula,” argued Sheinbaum.
The tone is similar to that used just a few days ago, during the presentation of tourism data for the first months of 2026, when the Government recalled that the Mayan Train moved 41% more of users than in 2025.
Sum of factors. On board the train it is possible to find passengers who stand out your comfort and safety. The authorities also have invested in promotion and looked for ways to improve service management, which has even led them to transfer it to the militarythen… What exactly is wrong?
Analysts usually point out a number of factors, including the cost for locals or that the service is not yet well known by foreign tourists, a customer profile who, on the other hand, usually manages their trips with agencies that already have agreements with bus companies and local hoteliers.
There is, however, one handicap that stands out above the rest. The location of the stations. They are not always close to populated areas and sometimes they also lack public transportation networks that make it easy to get to or leave them. “Here we get around by motorcycle or take taxis. The train to my town is far away. If I wanted to get around by train I would basically have to spend twice as much. I take the bus, which is more direct and cheaper,” comment a tour guide.
Images | Mayan Train-Government of Mexico
Via | Reuters
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