Mexican Government to Provide Weekly Mayan Train Briefings
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Mexican Government to Provide Weekly Mayan Train Briefings

Photo by:   Image by CarlosAlcazar from Pixabay
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Emilio Aristegui By Emilio Aristegui | Junior Journalist and Industry Analyst - Wed, 01/18/2023 - 21:28

Mexico’s government announced it will provide weekly updates on the status of the Mayan Train, which it calls a major opportunity for Mexico because it will create jobs, promote well-being and preserve the country’s archaeological heritage. While the government argues that its construction has been sustainable, numerous organizations and experts disagree. 

“Units, railway security battalions… and National Guard facilities will be created along the entire train route; Guard personnel will also participate onboard the trains to generate security conditions,” said Luis Cresencio Sandoval, Minister of Defense, via a government press release. 

Members of President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador’s cabinet reported on the 226km stretch of the train that covers 7 municipalities and 106 towns between Palenque, Chiapas, and Escárcega, Campeche. This line will include four stations, two bus stops, a maintenance base, a workshop and a garage. 

The train will require twelve bridges, 383 cross drainage works, four viaducts and 176 vehicular, pedestrian and wildlife bridges, said Javier May Rodríguez, General Director, National Fund for Tourism Promotion. The project will require about 517,000 tons of ballast, 424,000 pieces of sleepers and 29,500 tons of rails. It has also generated 12,000 jobs to date, said João Pedro Parreira, President and CEO, Mota-Engil Latin America.  

However, activists and environmentalists have criticized the Mayan Train for its environmental impact. “The project covers more than 50 municipalities and five states in the southeast of the Mexican Republic [Chiapas, Tabasco, Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana Roo], where various indigenous populations currently live, as well as being one of the most biodiverse areas of the world. The railway will cross the Mayan jungle – the second largest forest lung in Latin America after the Amazon –, fragmenting it and causing irreversible impacts on the vegetation, soil, water and biodiversity,” reported the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA) on its analysis of the project.

Photo by:   Image by CarlosAlcazar from Pixabay

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