The Tren Maya on Tramo 3, which passes through 15 municipalities between Yucatán and Campeche, has transported a total of 73,143 passengers from December 16, 2023, to July 23 of this year. Additionally, two return services have been added for traveling between Cancun and Merida.
During the morning press conference, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador presented updates on the Tren Maya project, specifically highlighting the progress on the Yucatán-Campeche section.
According to General Oscar David Lozano Águila, Director General of the Tren Maya, this tramo comprises 160 kilometers of track that passes through 15 municipalities in both states. Currently, there are six services available: Palenque to Cancun and back; Campeche to Cancun and back; a new route from Merida to Playa del Carmen and back; and two return services between Cancun and Mérida.
Since December 2023 to July of this year, more than 73,000 passengers have used these six routes. The majority of tickets were sold at the Tren Maya ticket counters (55,174) with over 18,000 online sales. Most of the trips were made by national tourists, with 37,212 passengers boarding the train in Tramo 3, followed by locals (18,909), people with disabilities or senior citizens (13,143), and international tourists (3,900).
The official explained that a maintenance base was built to provide service to this part of the project, as well as a locomotive depot for storing trains. In Mérida, a data processing center was installed.
Regarding progress on starting cargo transportation on the Tren Maya, it is expected to begin by 2025 and will feature a multimodal terminal in Progreso, Yucatán, and a rail bypass connecting the operations center from Poxilá community to the city of Progreso.
“We have a data processing center in Mérida and as part of the cargo infrastructure that will be built starting in 2025, we highlight that we will have a multimodal terminal in Progresso and a rail bypass that will connect our operation center in Poxilá to Progresso,” said General Oscar David Lozano Águila.
The Tren Maya added the Mérida-Cancun route
General Oscar David Lozano Águila announced that since this Friday, July 26th, the service of Cancun-Mérida and return Mérida-Cancun was added. The departure schedule has a start time at 11:45 am and the return trip takes place in the afternoon starting at 2:40 pm.
Lozano Águila recognized that this new route is successful, since last weekend it reached three thousand passengers, and from the beginning of summer there has been an increase in visits to Tren Maya on Tramo 3. It’s expected that this service will continue growing as time passes.
Currently, the connectivity between Cancun, Quintana Roo and Merida, Yucatan increased with land transportation services such as ADO and vans carrying passengers to destinations in 4-5 hours, also fast flights by Aerus taking an hour and a half. To this offer, we add the new Tren Maya route that provides food services during the trip.
