A federal court has ruled that work on the section of the Maya Train railroad between Playa del Carmen and Tulum must stop until the federal government demonstrates that geological and other studies have been completed along the route between the two Quintana Roo resort towns.
A court in Mérida, Yucatán, handed down a definitive suspension ruling in late January at around the same time that environmental groups revealed that steel and cement pilings pierce through the roofs of limestone caves along an elevated section of the railroad south of Playa del Carmen.
Experts said that the bulky columns have affected the quality of subterranean water and destroyed “archaeological and geological heritage” in Quintana Roo.
Reviewed by the El Financiero and Reforma newspapers, the Mérida-based federal court’s written ruling said that construction work on the 68-kilometer-long Tramo 5 Sur (the southern part of Section 5 of the railroad) must stop until the government presents to the court the results of required geological, geophysical and geohydrological studies.
Judge Adrián Novelo, who wrote the ruling, previously ruled in 2022 that work on Tramo 5 Sur couldn’t proceed due to the absence of an authorized environmental impact statement. The government was subsequently able to overcome that legal hurdle, and others.
In January, Novelo directed the National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur) to present “all the records” it has “in order to report on the condition of the cenotes, caverns and caves along … Tramo 5 Sur of the Maya Train project.”
He also directed Fontaur to present information on the “measures of prevention and protection that have been adopted to avoid the contamination of subterranean water” along the Tramo 5 Sur route, as well as information on any “collapses” of caves that have occurred during construction work and the “actions” that were carried out to remedy the situation.
“This court believes that the [geological and other] studies are vital to establish … that the section of the Maya Train doesn’t represent a real danger to the stability of subterranean water systems in the area,” the ruling said.
Novelo explained that the ruling complies with a new environmental law precedent established by the Supreme Court in December.
Fonatur is the government agency in charge of the US $20 billion Maya Train railroad, four sections of which began operations in late 2023. The northern part of Section 5 between Cancún and Playa del Carmen (Tramo 5 Norte) is scheduled to open on Feb. 29.
No specific opening date has been set for Tramo 5 Sur or Sections 6 (Tulum-Chetumal) and 7 (Bacalar-Escárcega), but President López Obrador said in late January that he believed the railroad would be 100% complete “in another two months [or] three months.”
It was unclear whether the latest court ruling against construction of Tramo 5 Sur will delay the opening of that section and others.
López Obrador inaugurated construction of the Maya Train railroad in June 2020, and pledged at the time that it would be finished in 28 months, or by October 2022.
However, the project has faced a range of challenges, including court rulings that have temporarily halted work and ardent opposition from environmental groups, which say that the construction and operation of the railroad pose a threat to wildlife and the Maya jungle in addition to the subterranean water system on the Yucatán Pensinsula.
The railroad, which López Obrador asserts will spur economic development in Mexico’s southeast, links colonial cities, coastal destinations and Maya archaeological sites in five states: Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Chiapas.
With reports from El Financiero and Reforma
Don’t be stupid like the USA and other liberal stupid countries.
BUILD THE DAMN TRAIN!
You obviously don’t live in the Yucatan Peninsula and so can’t appreciate the harm that is being done to our environment, flora and fauna, subterranean water systems, ancient Mayan culture and our neighbors in the peninsula who live in the shadow of the train. It’s not a question of being liberal but rather of being a responsible and humane human being, which should always trump poorly planned and unnecessary development in the name of “progress”. The train is one man’s unbridled ego trip and we who live here must pay the price for it.
I’ve never seen a dinosaur, and I don’t miss them either.
Finished running the railroad.
The lives of millions of families are for the better good of a damn frog or some insect.
Finish building the railroad.
Seems like a crude, unenlightened post supporting damages to an environment and culture which can’t be repaired with this macho approach to development would be followed.
The lives of tens of thousands of those families depend on tourism, and one of Yucatan’s major categories of attractions is the network of cenotes. The crystal clear waters are what make them so special. If those are contaminated, that whole massive piece of the economy goes down the drain. (Remember that the Maya Train is supposed to be a huge boost to tourism; it’s not needed for public transportation.)
Having participated in numerous environmental reviews in the States, it is clear to me that President Obrador gave the full speed ahead order, without giving the order for getting the environmental review done right. This is a huge project, it takes a well orchestrated set of studies. It can be done, it can be done efficiently, it can be done by fine Mexican scientists. Once done, a decision can be done to go ahead, even if there is environmental damage. But you have to do the research, you have to reveal the facts.
Through our work, which was mostly about social and economic issues, we killed a number of projects. Not becaues they caused too much damage, but because they were dumb. They were Big Ideas by powerful people; environmental review worked to counter sheer power with reason. Mighty politicians rarely get this.
AMLO is a very bright and able leader. His problem is that the route of the Maya train is set; if he had not put the cart before the horse, he could have made adjustments that would have made the point he was both sensitive and sensible. But I would not count him out yet.
BUILD THE TRAIN TRACK !!
The freaky kooks have reached Mexico now. These kooks always slow down progress, and the problem is that these freaks are Americans Europeans and Canadians, the overwhelming majority of them are not Mexicans. Americans Europeans, and Canadians kooks, these kooks are attempting to halt progress here now with a few Mexican lawyers, these whacked out whackos are from the sierra clubs funded by American kooks,
Crude insulting comment!
You have a fucked up view of the Mexican people and their needs.
I am obviously more welcoming as a US citizen “freak” to Mexican immigrants than you are as a Mexican “human”. Humans are not an intelligent species. Intelligent species do not destroy their own habitats. Cockroaches and hayinas are examples. Our freakish mutations are, Darwin would agree, for the better
They pushed this train through in an authoritarian manner and now they listen to the courts? Mexico is so stupid.
My faith in the strength of Mexico’s Democratic Institutions continues. Maybe the train is a good idea with a good outcome but forcing it’s construction and bypassing environmental laws with a declaration of a national emergency is a fraud and too autocratic/authoritarian for a free country and certainly for the free states in the Yucatán. Best of luck to both sides and May facts, reason, and logic prevail
News flash to olazdepazmexico and Andrew Jake Mladinich III: The point of the suspension is not to stop the project, but merely to make sure that the construction is done in a way that doesn’t damage the environment. This project can be a win-win if done properly. Rants like yours show that you are missing the point.