Having experienced the entire Tren Maya route already and knowing that it was a mixed bag, I decided to get at it yet again and experience travel to Chichén Itzá — this time by rail.
This first step was to buy my ticket, which was a pain. Although tickets can be purchased online in theory, in reality, the website (if active) will crash at checkout. In Mérida, at least, the only way to get tickets is to physically go to either the Teya-Mérida station or Nia Tower in the north of the city.
It is also important to remember that booking tickets over one week before departure is currently impossible, as prices and timetables are constantly changing.
The next step was to get to the Mérida-Teya train station, a misnomer because it’s in the municipality of Kanasín. This leg of the trip was easy, as the IE-Tram electric bus departing from La Plancha Park is punctual, fast, and comfortable. Sure enough, the IE-Tram departed right on time at 7:30 a.m. and had me at Mérida-Teya well before 8 a.m., a little more than an hour before my train was set to depart at 9:06 a.m.
Of all the Tren Maya stations I have visited, the one at Teya is the best organized, most complete, and comfortable. The bathrooms are clean, and there are plenty of shops and tiny restaurants where you can pick up snacks. But when it came to getting through security, the hiccups began. Over a megaphone, passengers were informed that outside food and drink were prohibited on the train. This had not been the case in my previous experiences on the train, so I gobbled down as much of my sandwich as possible and hid my protein bar in my waistband. Buying the food on board was not an experience I wanted to repeat.
Already annoyed by this new rule, I sneakily ate my protein bar, hoping not to be told off by the National Guard, which operates the Tren Maya. But as the Tren Maya began to pull out of the station (10 minutes late), I reminded myself of how cool it was that I was about to travel to Chichén Itzá by train — something I never thought I would experience.
As the train got going, it hit a top speed of 143 kph or nearly 90 mph. But these high speeds needed to be more consistent, as the train often slowed down to under a quarter of that on sections of the track that were still under construction. At the very first station in Tixkokob, just 20 or so minutes into the trip, the train came to a halt for 15 minutes to let another train pass, as at least for the time being, only one set of track is functional — which means that if one train is delayed, all trains get delayed.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, though the train’s speeding up and slowing down was a constant. The train arrived at Chichén Itzá station at 10:48, just over 10 minutes from our scheduled arrival time. The rest of the passengers and I hopped off expecting to be in front of Chichén Itzá’s world-famous Pyramid of Kukulcán within minutes, but that was not the case.
The first major hiccup came when passengers realized they would have to pay 50 pesos to take a bus to Chichén Itzá. Several folks looked around, confused. They could see signs saying they were already in Chichén Itzá, but they had no option other than to fork over the money.
The surprise of having to pay for a transfer was bad enough. But the fact that the bus took just over one hour to get to Chichén Itzá was infuriating. This delay was not due to the ride being especially long, which only took about 20 minutes, but rather the fact that the ticket had to be paid in exact change and that no credit or debit cards were accepted.
By the time I was able to get into Chichén Itzá, it was past 12:20 p.m. The site was packed with tourists, the sun was blistering, and the temperature was 37 degrees Celsius, nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
After looking around at the site for a few minutes (as I have been to it countless times), I made my way out to check out the new Gran Museo de Chichén Itzá. At the information kiosk at Chichén Itzá, I was given conflicting information. Some employees said it was not yet open to the public, and others said it was, but there was no transportation there, so that a several-mile walk would be necessary. I was able to hail a cab in the nearby town of Pisté, but the driver said he could get me there only part of the way for 70 pesos, as taxis are not allowed into the area, or the train station for that matter.
We will post more on this leg of the adventure on Monday.
The verdict
So, is it worth it for an average visitor to take the Tren Maya to Chichén Itzá? No, at least for now. The journey took nearly twice as long as it would have by bus, which delivers travelers right to the entrance to the famous archaeological site.
The main issue with the Chichén Itzá Tren Maya station is that, well, it is not in Chichén Itzá. After all, having to wait almost an hour to take a bus to get to the site negates the entire point. Hopefully, these issues will be fine-tuned and work more smoothly in the future, but the fact that the Chichén Itzá station is considered officially open for business likely has more to do with it being an election year than reality.
Another thing to remember is that there are currently only two daily departures to Chichén Itzá from Mérida and Cancún, so unless you are staying the night, you will have to take a bus back. This would not have been such a big deal if the ADO Station in Pisté was still open, but this is not the case. All first-class buses now leave from Chichén Itzá and tend to sell out fast, so book your return as soon as you arrive.
There are plentiful second-class buses from Chichén Itzá to Mérida, Valladolid, and Cancún, but as they make several stops along the way, your travel time will roughly double compared to the first-class ADO buses.
Unless you love trains or just want to experience the novelty of traveling to Chichén Itzá by rail (which you won’t be doing anyway), wait a year or so until the infrastructure is in place and working properly. Let’s be clear: The Tren Maya station at Chichén Itzá has potential, but the entire network is simply not ready for your average traveler.
The Tren Maya project is much further along than I initially believed it would be. It is possible to take the train to several amazing places in southeastern Mexico that are off the radar of most tourists, and that’s a great thing. Whether or not the project will be worth the financial and environmental costs is still an open question. But as a Mexican and a Yucateco who knows the bulk of these costs have already been incurred, I can’t help but hope it ends up being a success. Otherwise, it will end up being one of the greatest white elephants in Mexico’s history — and nobody wants that.
