President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is expected to inaugurate the remaining sections of the Maya Train in the state of Quintana Roo in early September, but one business leader doesn’t anticipate the project being completed until the middle of next year. With only days until the president’s scheduled visit, questions mount about whether the train is “on track.” On August 19, Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama confirmed López Obrador’s plans when announcing that her State of the State report (Informe), originally scheduled for the first week of September, would be pushed back a week so she could accommodate the president’s visit.
“The president will inaugurate all 500 kilometers of the Maya Train in Quintana Roo as well as our two remaining train stations,” Lezama said, adding that her Informe would be rescheduled after Sept. 5. López Obrador recently targeted Sept.
15 as the date the railroad would be completed , hoping the ambitious project would be fully operational before he leaves office on Oct. 1. That’s unlikely to happen, says a Quintana Roo businessman who predicts the train won’t be ready until mid-2025.
Sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Maya Train are only about 65-70% complete, Josué Osmani Palomo told the newspaper El Economista, and the train stations are just 50% ready. The three sections connect Quintana Roo coastal resort cities Playa del Carmen and Tulum, and link Tulum with Chetumal farther south before continuing west across the Yucat.