Mexico opens Mayan Train railway project

December 15, 2023 - The first section of the controversial Tren Maya railway line has opened, connecting major tourist attractions across the Yucatán peninsula. The entire 1,525km track is expected to be ready by February 2024.

Related Graphics

View More

FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar

Elon Musk unveils the Tesla Cybertruck

India’s longest sea bridge nears completion

Mexico rail rival to Panama Canal set to open

You can buy a full-size mech robot for $3 million

Electric vehicle tariff planned on exports to UK

UK Prime Minister Sunak announces U-turn on key green targets

London becomes world’s largest low-emissions zone

Motorcycle head-up display

World’s first autonomous bus service begins in Scotland

Amazon Zoox robotaxi makes maiden voyage on public road

Russian bridge to Crimea attacked

Uber’s expansion to dominate the ride hailing sector

Micro mobility takes to the road

London has world’s worst traffic jams

EVs drive toward lower battery costs

EV sales to account for third of market by end of decade

Falling battery prices drive EV sales

Europe’s ambitious new undersea tunnel plan

Europe’s battered airlines face threat from night-train expansion

France plans gas-guzzling car tax

Future looks bright for European electric vehicles

Denmark approves underwater tunnel to Germany

Bloodhound supersonic car ramps up its speed

Singapore showcases electric air taxi station

1960s James Bond car fetches $6.4 million at auction

1,000mph Bloodhound car set for high-speed tests

First stage of Sydney Metro opens

Mexico launches $7.4bn Mayan Train railway project

Electric driverless truck interactive

Connecting the city of Campeche to Cancun, the first section of the railway line will shortly be followed by a section between Cancun and Palenque, with the entire 1,525km track expected to be ready by February 2024.

First announced in 2018 and with construction starting in June 2020, the major infrastructure project will connect five states along the Yucatan Peninsula and is an attempt to both improve connectivity in the region and enhance the country’s tourism industry.

But the project, hailed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador as a beacon of prosperity, has bitterly divided communities along its route.

A sizeable area has been gouged out of rainforest, the second largest in the Americas after the Amazon, for the 1,525km route that cuts through land largely inhabited by Indigenous groups.