Mérida’s La Plancha park will incorporate a Mayan Train station after all, according to statements by Rogelio Jiménez Pons, of Fonatur.
Having Mérida’s Mayan Train station at La Plancha had been the plan since the project was first announced. But complaints from residents combined with concerns about the project’s viability forced authorities to move the station to the small community of Teya.
The plan is now to build a station in Teya in 2022, but then move it to Mérida’s La Plancha Park as soon as 2025.
“We have a master plan for La Plancha, and the Mayan Train will be a part of it,” said Jiménez Pons while speaking at the Tianguis Turístico, Mexico’s largest tourism trade show.
Critics of the move say that building a train station that will only be operational for a few years is a tremendous waste of resources. Others question the viability of the Tren Maya Project altogether.
Earlier: Mayan Train rail cars to cost over 36 billion pesos
“Having the station in Teya is the worst of both worlds. All of the expense, and none of the benefits for Mérida. What a mess,” said a state government source who preferred to remain anonymous.
The proposed designs of the Mayan Train stations have created a good deal of interest given their unique and inspired designs.
The project was a campaign promise of now President Andrés Manuel López Obrador who was elected in 2018. The project hopes to stimulate tourism in the region and contribute to the economic development of southeastern Mexico.
The route of the Mayan Train is to span the Mexican states of Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo.
Ticket prices have not yet been announced, but official sources have stated that prices for nationals and foreign citizens are likely to vary.
