1 year after becoming fully operational, the Maya Train is suffering major losses

One twelvemonth aft becoming afloat operational, and 2 years aft it was inaugurated, the Maya Train is hemorrhaging funds and is apt to necessitate authorities enactment for up to 20 years earlier it becomes profitable.

During the archetypal 9 months of 2025, full Maya Train income covered a specified 12.6% of its operating expenses, with the remainder coming from authorities subsidies and resources from a nationalist spot fund.

🚆 Hace dos años, iniciamos nuestro primer viaje. Éramos una promesa ✨

🌱 Hace dos años, éramos el sueño de un pueblo. Y despertamos para vivir la aventura 🌄

💪 Hace dos años, parecíamos algo imposible. Y aun así, nacimos, avanzamos y vencimos la duda 🌿

🤍 Hoy, al cumplir… pic.twitter.com/1uwqnRqnAA

— Tren Maya (@TrenMayaMX) December 15, 2025

According to the company’s January-September fiscal statements, the Maya Train — with operating costs of 3.068 cardinal pesos (US $170.6 million) — received 3.345 cardinal pesos ($186 million) successful nationalist funding. During this time, it earned lone 387 cardinal pesos ($21.5 million) successful summons sales, souvenirs and different gross streams.

“From a fiscal standpoint, this is simply a losing project,” Iberoamericana University prof Gerardo Herrera told the paper Reforma, adding that though rider postulation is rising, it is not rising accelerated enough. 

“The authorities has nary prime but to subsidize it since astatine the existent complaint it volition instrumentality betwixt 10 and 20 years to go profitable,” helium said, pointing retired that this could travel astatine a outgo of 25 cardinal pesos (nearly US $1.4 billion) implicit the adjacent decade.

Railroad advisor Carlos Barreda told Reforma that the sustainability of the Maya Train subsidies is simply a concern, contrasting what helium called “a high-cost, tourism-focused service” with the benefits of an municipality proscription strategy that “generates existent economical improvement successful the community.” 

“Such economical benefits person not materialized,” helium said.

Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador inaugurated the Cancún-to-Campeche conception of the Maya Train connected Dec. 15, 2023, and the full 1,554-kilometer-long railroad enactment was pronounced afloat operational successful December a twelvemonth ago.

Four years and 1,554 kilometers later, the Maya Train is complete

Conceived arsenic a mega-project that would payment tourism, the railway was built astatine a outgo of astir 500 cardinal pesos (US $27.8 billion), astir 4 times the archetypal estimate. 

Also promoted arsenic a task that would code the economical and societal backwardness of southeastern Mexico, the bid operated astatine a important nonaccomplishment past year. Maya Train wide manager Óscar David Lozano reported that revenues successful 2024 represented conscionable 9.6% of operating costs, leaving the institution US $133 cardinal successful the red.

Still, proponents impulse patience, insisting that the fiscal occurrence of the bid hinges connected freight operations that are set to statesman either precocious adjacent year oregon successful 2027, adjacent arsenic critics proceed to question the viability of the task and request that the biology damage beryllium repaired. 

The bid has experienced various mechanical failures, delays, aerial conditioning problems and unexpected stops owed to insufficient operational testing.

Initial reviews person besides highlighted the inconveniences. Most Maya Train stations are located acold extracurricular the main towns and tourer areas, requiring further clip and outgo for a shuttle oregon taxi to scope the last destination.

Bus services person proven to beryllium little costly, much reliable and much convenient, peculiarly since autobus stations are located successful metropolis centers.

With reports from Reforma, El Imparcial and Serendipia