A single car of a train operating on the Maya Train railroad derailed in the state of Yucatán on Monday. No injuries were reported, but the service was suspended and passengers were forced to backtrack to the Teya station near Mérida on another train.
The derailment occurred Monday morning near the Tixkokob station, located east of Mérida, the state capital. The Maya Train service departed Campeche at 7 a.m. and was headed to Cancún, the resort city on the northeast coast of the state of Quintana Roo.
🚨🔴 Reportan el descarrilamiento de cuando menos un vagón del #TrenMaya en inmediaciones de la estación ubicada en la localidad de #Tixkokob, Yucatán, cuando se dirigía de Campeche a Cancún. No se reportan lesionados.
📹@barrazzazpic.twitter.com/uPMiTbDmlx— LupitaJuarez (@LupitaJuarezH) March 25, 2024
A video posted to social media showed that some of the wheels of the final car of a train left the tracks near a railway junction.
The Maya Train, which is government-operated, said in a press release the derailment occurred as the train passed over a change of tracks near the entrance to Tixkokob station, at a velocity of 10 km/h. A committee has been organized to investigate the cause of the incident and to determine steps to prevent similar issues in the future, the press release stated.
The Tixkokob station is located on Section 3 of the Maya Train, one of three sections on which operations began in December. Sections 1-4 of the 1,554-kilometer-long railroad and the northern part of Section 5 between Cancún and Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo are now open. It is thus possible to travel from Palenque, Chiapas, to Playa del Carmen by train.
The southern part of Section 5 from Playa del Carmen to Tulum, as well as Section 6 from Tulum to Chetumal and Section 7 from Bacalar, Quintana Roo, to Escárcega, Campeche, are slated to begin operations later this year.
The railroad runs through the Yucatán Peninsula states of Quintana Roo, Yucatán and Campeche as well as Tabasco and Chiapas. It was originally projected to cost US $7.5 billion, but the government predicts the final price tag will be above $28 billion.
With reports from Reforma, La Jornada, Milenio, El Diario de Yucatán and El Universal
