Maya Train Chetumal Cargo Terminal Assessment Starts

Chetumal, Quintana Roo — The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) announced that it received the Environmental Impact Assessment (MIA) for the construction of the Maya Train Multimodal Cargo Terminal in Chetumal on November 11, 2025. The project is estimated to cost over 3 billion pesos.

This initiates an evaluation process prior to the project’s start, which is currently in the file integration phase and will include a public consultation.

According to the study presented by the company Tren Maya S. A. de C.V., the project involves the construction and development of a distribution center to handle the loading and unloading of products, merchandise, and raw materials for their storage, handling, and rail transport.

The project also includes crew accommodations, a TETRA antenna, a gasoline dispatch station, a washing area, a weighbridge, a public warehouse, roads, a vehicle access and railway control booth, construction clearings, a transformer room, a customs building, a parking maintenance workshop, and space for the National Guard.

Other included components are a welcome wall, an administrative office, a maneuvering yard, a water treatment plant, an intermodal platform, a wastewater treatment plant, a territorial reserve, a hazardous waste area, a railcar maintenance workshop, diesel and gasoline tanks, a totem, a public access road, and an inspection roadway.

The surface area planned for the terminal is 101.4623 hectares, requiring the clearing of 47.8150 hectares of medium jungle for a change in land use.

The property is located two kilometers northwest of Xul-Ha, parallel to Federal Highway 307 Chetumal–Cancún and approximately 900 meters west of this road.

Due to this location, the terminal will be 10 kilometers from Bacalar and about 20 kilometers from Chetumal, the capital of Quintana Roo.

The study does not provide budget information, but according to information from the Maya Train, the Chetumal Multimodal Terminal is estimated to cost 3,099 million pesos, slightly less than half the cost of the Cancún terminal, estimated at 7,777 million pesos.

According to the MIA, the work will be carried out over 18 months and will have an estimated useful life of 50 years, with the possibility of extension through proper maintenance.

The construction of the cargo terminal is justified for economic, social, and environmental reasons, in addition to considering the benefits it will generate in employment and economic spillover during the works.

Furthermore, with its operation, a reduction in transit times and shipping costs for goods and supplies is expected, increasing the competitiveness of local companies and ensuring more agile and efficient access to national and international markets, as well as stimulating the regional economy with direct and indirect jobs.