A single car of the Maya Train derailed near the city of Mérida, Yucatán, on Tuesday as it was slowly pulling into the Izamal station, with no reported injuries or deaths.
According to a statement by Maya Train authorities, the cause of the incident, which occurred at 1:48 p.m., is currently under investigation by an examining committee. Service is operating normally at the railway’s remaining stations.
The statement said that after activating safety protocols, passengers were transported to their destinations on company buses. The train was running from the resort city of Cancún to Mérida.
A federal official who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the incident, told the Associated Press that part of the derailed car leaned onto a train on a parallel track, ruling out a collision. Photos and videos that circulated online show one car veering off the tracks, but not overturned.
On Wednesday morning, the director of the Maya Train Óscar David Lozano explained the cause of the incident before President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, insisting it was not a derailment but a “track error.”
“Just car 3 [of four] is off the track, so … it is leaning slightly on the MC1 of train 307, which is stationary. That is why it looks inclined. And car 4 is completely positioned on track 2,” Lozano said before a diagram of the incident.
The director of the Maya Train added that he will be in contact with the companies responsible for installing the safety and railway traffic systems for the Maya Train, including Alstom.
This is not the first time the Maya Train has experienced a rail incident in the same area. On March 25, 2024, a similar incident occurred near Tixkokob, the station following Izamal, when the fourth car of convoy D006 went off the tracks upon entering the station, traveling at just 10 kilometers per hour.
No injuries or serious property damage were reported then. Passengers were evacuated and boarded another train to continue their journey.
Investigations of such an accident concluded that the cause of the incident was inadequate mechanical fastening of the track clamps.
The Maya Train, operated and managed by the Mexican Army, is one of the ruling Morena party’s so-called “Fourth Transformation” of Mexico. It began construction under former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s term (2018-2024).
The train runs through the Yucatán Peninsula states of Quintana Roo, Yucatán and Campeche as well as Tabasco and Chiapas. It has stations in or near the cities of Palenque, Campeche, Mérida, Valladolid, Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Chetumal, among others.
Since the project was announced, it has faced widespread criticism due to its significant environmental impact and its questionable profitability, after it required an investment of over US $30 billion. It was originally projected to cost US $7.5 billion.
Concerns have also been raised about the operation of the Maya Train by the Mexican Army due to a historic absence of accountability mechanisms for military operations.
With reports from El Financiero
