An official guidebook will help Maya Train passengers get the most out of their trip on the soon-to-be operational railroad.
Ahead of this Saturday’s inaugural trip between Campeche and Cancún, the federal government on Monday presented the Gran Guía del Tren Maya (Great Guide to the Maya Train), which will be distributed free of charge to the first 10,000 passengers and subsequently made available for purchase.
“Starting Friday we’ll have the Gran Guía del Tren Maya,” Diego Prieto, director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History, told President López Obrador’s morning press conference.
The guide includes information about the Maya Train stations, the natural attractions, archaeological sites and beaches along the route and the region’s gastronomy, he said.
“I believe it’s a very useful tool to allow the visitors to the southeast [of Mexico] and the Yucatán Peninsula to appreciate the immense cultural, archaeological, historical, scenic [and] gastronomic attractions … of this great region of Mexico,” Prieto said.
It was unclear whether the guide contained information in English in addition to Spanish, or whether the government planned to publish separate editions in English and other languages.
Maya Train chief Óscar Lozano told the president’s press conference that the railroad will operate 365 days a year and that tickets will soon be sold via an official Maya Train website. Tickets are currently being sold on the e-ticket website.
Lozano also said that tickets will eventually be available at Maya Train stations and airports in the five states through which the railroad will run, among other locations. To avoid the resale of tickets through third parties, a maximum of five tickets will be available to purchasers, he said.
Tickets for the first trip sold out in under an hour earlier this month. Tourist class and first class tickets for the Campeche-Cancún trip were up for grabs on Dec. 1. The former cost 1,166 pesos (US $67), while the latter cost 1,862 pesos (about US $107).
The second section to become operational will be that between Cancún and Palenque, Chiapas.
López Obrador said last month that the Cancún-Palenque section will open on Dec. 31, while the entire railroad and its 34 stations will be operational on Feb. 29, 2024.
The multi-billion-dollar project will connect cities and towns in five states: Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Chiapas.
With reports from El Financiero and El Universal
