When Andrés Manuel López Obrador, president of Mexico, put on the table the idea of building a train that would unite the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo, those who heard it seemed like a good project. because it would boost the economy in an area rich in natural resources, but far behind in terms of the economic level of the majority of its inhabitants.
However, when the president pointed out that it should be built in just six years, doubts began to arise, since a plan of these dimensions requires at least 15 years between planning, execution and start-up.
As the manifestation of a dream became a mandate, then First, the work began to be built, then the soil and environmental impact studies were carried out and until the end the cost of construction was put on the balance.he project, which, due to the disorder, has also risen significantly to a price that must continue to be paid many years after the work has started.
terrain complexity
Boot, The project was tendered in seven sections that were assigned to different private construction companies, but due to the complexity of the work, especially in Section 5, which connects Cancun with Tulum, the route of more than 110 kilometers in length diverted into the jungle with possible future effectsWell lhe train tracks will pass through a very fragile limestone soil that will put their resistance to the test, since there are also underground rivers and caverns below.
In this sense, it must be taken into account that each train weighs more than 200 tons and will travel the route several times daily.
work suspension
At the time, the judge of the first court of Yucatán suspended the works of Section 5 due to the lack of an Environmental Impact Assessment, but in response the federal government called the project a national security work and then there was no way to stop it.
Environmental impact
During the presentation of the most ambitious project in terms of communications in recent years, The commitment was that not a single tree would be felled when setting up the transit tracks for the Mayan Train, but upon reaching the jungle sections, the promise was broken. In addition, the wildlife that inhabits the area was put at risk.
As if this were not enough, there is no type of study that evaluates the impact that the passage of the train will have on the aquifers that are located a few meters below the areas through which it will pass, especially in Quintana Roo.
archaeological finds
The excavations carried out to open roads in the middle of nowhere where sleepers and train tracks would later be mounted They brought up multiple archaeological findings that demanded the need to be studied by specialists in detail.
Nevertheless, given the need to build in a short time this was overlooked and little will be known of the vestiges.
Cost
Being a state project, for many years all the information related to the cost that the Mayan Train will imply will be kept safe, but since most of it will be absorbed by the public treasury, the sum will be of colossal proportions, without being official there is talk of up to $45,000 million dollars.
After the project is inaugurated in December, it will be when the real problems of the project begin to surface. star of the president who heads the so-called Fourth Transformation of Mexico.
Keep reading:
- Everything you need to know about the Mayan Train, one of AMLO’s stellar projects
- AMLO hands over the administration of the Mayan Train to the Mexican Army
- Andrés Manuel López Obrador tours the first sections of the Mayan Train
- This is how the controversy of the Mayan Train in Mexico continues