Shocking Costs Revealed: Maya Train Expenses 9,926 Pesos per Passenger

The Maya Train, a significant infrastructure project of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's government, has transported 148,177 passengers in its first six months of operation. Each passenger ride requires a treasury resource transfer of 9,926 pesos, according to data obtained through transparency requests.

The train operates across five sections, and the cost to run these routes has been just over 1.47 billion pesos. The most substantial portion of this expense, over 1.35 billion pesos, is categorized as "general expenses" from December 15 to May of the following year. Additionally, the salaries and wages for the Maya Train staff amount to 81.5 million pesos.

However, the tourist train has not yet reached its promised speed, and travel times are not optimal for visitors. The train's average speed is 83 kilometers per hour, roughly half of the projected speed promoted by the federal government for this high-speed railway project in the southeast of the country.

The Maya Train, which travels through Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo, currently operates 16 daily runs on the different enabled sections. Section 3, running from Calkiní in Campeche to Izamal in Yucatán, has seen the most passengers. Since the project's inception, this segment has transported a total of 43,708 passengers.

The Izamal to Cancun section, identified as section 4, has the second-highest passenger influx, with 40,573 passengers transported in the first months of the Maya Train's operation.

The Maya Train, covering over 1,500 kilometers in the southeast of the country, is now owned and managed by the army. The army will also retain any profits generated by the train in the future.