Mexico’s Maya Train Project Threatens Vulnerable Ecosystems, Including Ancient Caves

Mexico’s 966-mile Yucatán Peninsula Maya Train rail project — Tren Maya — is causing concern because of the potential for harm to environmentally sensitive areas like an ancient ecosystem of thousands of subterranean caves.

In late 2023, a southeastern portion of the train service connecting Cancún opened, with the government announcing the remaining routes would be running in February of 2024, reported Reuters. However, the timeline’s validity has been called into question by experts.

The cost of the train has ballooned from an original budget of roughly $8.5 billion to $28 billion, The Associated Press reported.

A campaign to stop the train by Selvame del Tren — a group of environmental activists, archaeologists and cave divers — has said the train route through the Yucatán jungle is demolishing fragile ecosystems that are home to threatened species like spider monkeys, jaguars and nearly 400 types of birds, reported BBC News.

“The train runs through the jungle, filling cenotes (sinkhole lakes) and underground rivers with concrete, without any studies,” said Selvame del Tren in an official statement, as BBC News reported. “We are not against progress. On the contrary, we consider development in the Peninsula as a great opportunity for social justice, economic reactivation and infrastructure improvement, but we seek to do it with full respect for the environment.”

Guillermo D’Christy, a water expert, surveyed the steel and concrete pilings installed amongst the stalactite and stalagmite formations in the delicate caves. D’Christy is afraid vibrations from the trains and construction will harm the caves’ roofs.

“We are putting at risk a very important bio-cultural heritage for Mexico, and for humanity,” D’Christy said, as reported by Reuters. “This ceiling is going to gradually become thinner and thinner. It is falling. It is collapsing.”

An environmental impact study was conducted by the government, which said the risk of cave collapse was considered when the tracks were engineered and a prevention program would be implemented.

Some local residents were glad for any funds being brought into the region.

“[A]nything that brings money into the state is a good thing,” a taxi driver from Mérida, the capital city of Yucatán, told BBC News. “We’ve been ignored by the government for too long. Poverty here is a problem. If that’s ever going to change, we need investment.”

Others had concerns about the government’s dismissal of Indigenous communities and their land, which was razed along the train’s route.

“Not only has the train been built over cenotes, which could collapse at any time, it’s also displaced many Maya communities,” Paulina Rios, a Mexico City marine biologist, told the BBC. “Maya people have had to move from their homes, where they have lived for hundreds of generations, for a train that they will probably never be able to ride [because it’s too expensive]. It doesn’t make any sense.”