The first 80 machinists and circulation managers of the Mayan Train They are finishing their “ad hoc” international training in Spain, almost a month before the start of operations of the great railway bet of the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, for the southeast of the country.
The training has been carried out by the Spanish railway safety agency, Renfewhich has designed an exclusive training program for the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena)850 hours for a total of 50 train drivers and 30 traffic controllers.
Renfe explained that the training for members of the Mexican Armed Forces It has been developed between different groups since January 2023, while the Mayan Train already has two supervision tours in which López Obrador and members of his cabinet have participated.
This training program is carried out at different locations: in Mexico City, at the Renfe training center, in the Spanish city of Malaga, and with driving practices on board Renfe trains in Spain.
The final phase of training will take place on the ground, in the vehicles and routes of the Mayan Trainsaid Renfe.
The most recent promotion of aspiring machinists arrived in Spain last August, after two months of theoretical training in Mexico City.
For this first phase, Renfe, heir to the old National Network of Spanish Railwayssent four experienced trainers to the Mexican capital to provide theoretical training in this program.
“After a week in Madrid, the aspiring machinists are completing the next phase of the program in the Renfe Training Center in Malagaa headquarters that debuted precisely with this training project for Mexico, with the first class of machinists of the Mayan Train, which ended its program in July 2023,” Renfe detailed.
At the Malaga training center, the second class has completed one more month of theoretical training and has recently begun three months of practical training, in driving simulators and on board different models of Renfe trains.
To familiarize yourself with vehicles and systems similar to those you will have in the Mayan TrainMexicans will have their internships on board Civia on the Málaga Cercanías network and AVE trains on trips to Madrid, Granada or Córdoba.
Mexicans in this program will receive certificates with updated content on the specific content that will ultimately regulate railway circulation in the Mayan Train Project, such as Regulatory Circulation Regulationsknowledge about the vehicle, knowledge about the infrastructure and those specific procedures that must be applied for commissioning and commercial operation.
Of the 30 traffic managers, the students began their training on August 28 in Mexico City and traveled this month to complete their training cycle this November.
At the beginning of October, the second supervision tour was carried out for the Mayan Trainwhile López Obrador has announced its inauguration next December.
The work of the Mayan Train includes more than 1,500 kilometers of railway for transporting cargo, tourists and local passengers in the five states of the southeast of the country: Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatán.
The project has received criticism from organizations, environmentalists and politicians, who have asked to suspend the works in different sections due to environmental and community damage.
During the presentation of the most ambitious communications project in recent years, it was said that The commitment was that not a single tree would be cut down when setting up the Mayan Train transit tracks, but when reaching the jungle sections, the promise was broken. and the wildlife that lives in the area was also 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.
The excavations carried out to open roads in the middle of nowhere where sleepers and train tracks would later be installed They brought to light multiple archaeological finds that demanded the need to be studied in detail by specialists.
Nevertheless, Given the need to build in a short time this was overlooked and little will be known about the remains.
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 travels the first sections of the Mayan Train
- This is how the Mayan Train controversy continues in Mexico