By Julie Etra
The Tren Maya links the main cities, major airports and tourist destinations, including major Mayan archaeological sites within the five states rooted in Mayan culture in Mexico (Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo). It also formally recognizes and helps safeguard the Mayan culture and its contributions to Mexico. All the signage is bilingual (Spanish and Mayan). The major and central station is Cancún.
Although other rail line projects in the region had been proposed by past administrations, the Tren Maya was the brainchild of the former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (aka AMLO) and his administration, and one of his top priorities shortly after his election in 2018. The Tren Maya consists of 1,554 km (966 miles) of modern rail that loops around the Yucatán Peninsula, with two additional legs, one east to Chetumal on the Belize border, and the other lengthy section south and west from Escárcega to the archeological site of Palenque in Chiapas. There are a total of 34 stations, of which 20 are major, consisting of seven segments. The three train types include the Standard Mayan Train (Xinnbal, ‘walking’ in Mayan), the Restaurant Car (Janal), and the Mayan Train Long Distance (P’ata), the latter of which will provide sleeper cars for the lengthier routes. The Standard Train has a 300-passenger capacity. The stations tend to be on the outskirts of communities, probably dictated by right of way issues, community concerns, engineering, hydrology, and archaeological. Passengers cannot simply hop on and off the train, so if you want to stay in a particular area for an extended stay, buy two one-way tickets.
Engineering, Construction and Operation
The lead firm selected for this project was Alstom, a French multinational company specializing in rail transport, mobility solutions, and engineering. Including the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation (part of Bombardier, known for its aviation division, including business jets), with a facility in Querétaro, Mexico, they are a global leader in high-speed trains, metros, trams, and sustainable signaling systems. At the time, FONATUR (National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism) was the lead agency for the Federal government, with a carefully selected consortium of businesses responsible for the design, manufacture of the trains, construction of the rail line, environmental and cultural analysis, and likely public outreach and coordination. The consortium was in part selected for its ability to manufacture the 42 X’Trapolis trains in Mexico in Ciudad Sahagún, Hidalgo, fulfilling another goal of being a ‘Train for Mexico Built in Mexico’ as well as design and install the entire associated infrastructure. The exterior design is sleek and elegant, and the train’s logo, an artistic interpretation of Kukulkan, the Mayan plumed serpent deity, was clearly displayed.
Construction began in 2019 with clearing and grubbing of the right of way. Topography is mainly flat, though hilly and rough terrain in Campeche required excavation and stabilization of long cut slopes. Some sections required multiple vehicular overpasses to maintain access to small communities. Sections were built and opened incrementally, with the final segment from Escárcega to Chetumal on December 15, 2024.
The routes are now fully operational although, as of this article, it is not clear what services are available at all the major stations. The trains are powered by a hybrid system, utilizing both electric-diesel dual-mode locomotives and dedicated diesel locomotives to travel the 1,554 km route. Approximately 44% of the track (about 690 km), primarily between Mérida and Chetumal, is electrified. The remaining sections are intended to run on clean biodiesel and ultra-low sulfur diesel, resulting in lower emission and energy efficiency. And the source of the biodiesel? Sources are primarily used cooking and vegetable oils produced in the surrounding five states through which the train passes. Alternatively, ultra-low sulfur diesel fuels are also used, according to causanaturamedia.com.
The Guardia Nacional, (established by AMLO in 2019), under the direction of the Mexican Armed Forces, oversees security and plays a role in operations.
Our Trip March 2026
We decided, without much debate, to take the Tren Maya this year from Mérida to Playa del Carmen, then rent a car and head to Akumal to meet up with family members, returning to Mérida. We did discuss taking it last year, but since 2025 was Tren Maya’s first year in operation, we decided to wait for reviews from friends or acquaintances—which never came. We chose Mérida since we had great memories from a brief trip we took decades ago on our way to Tulum; I was alone in Mérida in 2011 to present at an International Conference and wanted to go back with my hubby. We chose Playa del Carmen for the destination north of Akumal since it appeared that the station was better developed than the Tulum station to the south of Akumal and we were concerned about transportation to the rental car agency. As it turns out that was a prudent decision, as neither taxis nor Uber were available at the Playa del Carmen train station, and we were lucky to catch a private van to pick up our rental car.
Mérida To Playa del Carmen
Websites recommended that we be at the station across town an hour early so we left the hotel at 5:15 am, before the Mérida rush hour. The station was elegant but with few functioning services and mostly empty store fronts. Signage indicated that no outside beverages or food were allowed on the train; the body and luggage scanners, however, were not functioning at the time and we noticed employees enjoying a good desayuno in Styrofoam containers once we were on board in our first-class seats. We left at 7:00 a.m. on the dot. The comfortable seats were identical in coach and first class, the latter came with a fold-out table, but that was the only perk, other than first class allows for early boarding. There was plenty of space for storage and even a rack for bicycles. The food, in a separate ‘vagón’ (car) consisted mostly of packaged microwavable snacks, but I had a decent slice of carrot cake and a cup of coffee (skip the chapata de carne with mystery meat) and I was impressed with the selection of magazines. They serve rum, vodka, tequila and beer, but alas no wine, although it was a bit early for alcohol. It appears that the vagón may offer more culinary options in the future, as what we experienced was not the ‘restaurant’ car described on various websites (‘There will be 8 Restaurant model Maya trains, and the reason is that they have a carriage that functions as a restaurant. It has an industrial-type kitchen with a capacity for 140 passengers, and it prepares food from each region it passes through’).
There are electrical charge outlets and USB ports on the trains, but the wireless internet was not functioning on either leg of our trip. It was a 4.5-hour comfortable trip to Playa del Carmen through the flat and monotonous terrain, dominated by scrubby vegetation of the limestone parent material of the Yucatán Peninsula, mostly paralleling the existing highway to Cancún.
Return to Mérida
The train at Playa del Carmen left punctually at 7:10 p.m. and it was good we were early, as an intense downpour would have slowed our 25-minute taxi ride. We ducked into a small fast-food restaurant to get out of the rain blowing through the station and had a few beers. The station had functioning scanners, but they did not catch the limited food and beverages we managed to bring. The train was on time, and other than the coach being very cold (I resorted to wrapping a tee shirt around my head), we had an uneventful return in the dark night, with a few rum and coke cocktails and our books to break the monotony. We caught a cab back to the hotel in Mérida.
Would we do this again? Perhaps! I would love to check out the restaurant car and go back to either Palenque or Bacalar. Some challenges remain along several sections of the train due to difficult and complicated civil engineering associated with the karst topography (porous and cavernous limestone formations) and cenotes (freshwater sinkholes) of the Yucatan Peninsula, and several derailments occurred in 2025. Be sure to check the status of the rails when considering your itinerary.
Reservations:
These were easy to do online and directly through their website http://www.trenmaya.gob.mx