Tren Maya is an exciting new railway in southern Mexico that I recently experienced firsthand. The project holds lots of promise, but has also faced criticism and controversy. My trip prompted me to explore the potential of the train as a means of transportation–does it offer a viable way to move people around, including those with disabilities?
Tren Maya (Mayan Train) is a new railway in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. The nearly 1,000 mile route includes thirty-four stations across five different southern states. The route connects many tourist hotspots such as Cancún and Playa del Carmen as well as archeologically significant sites such as Chichén Itzá and Izamal. However, it also connects many of the major cities and towns in the region including Campeche, Mérida, and Palenque. Beyond just shuttling tourists around, the government website also highlights other benefits and goals such as economic growth and development. The Tren Maya is one of several large scale passenger rail projects that the Mexican government plans to roll out in the near future.
Like many large scale projects, the Tren Maya has been a hot and controversial topic in recent years. For example, important questions have been raised about high project costs, eventual ridership, and environmental impacts such as deforestation and damage to the region’s water supply and cenotes (deep sinkholes in limestone with pools of water found throughout the Yucatán). These are important questions that are still being debated by journalists and scholars from different fields. Here are some of my takeaways.
Accessibility
As a wheelchair user, who has travelled in various Latin American countries, traveling long distances is generally challenging. In most places, the only option to travel from place to place is in buses without lifts—meaning the alternative is to be awkwardly carried up narrow steps and remain seated for the entire trip.
However, the travel experience on Tren Maya was fantastic. The ride from Cancún to Mérida (about 3.5 hours) was smooth and pleasant. There were no bumps or jerks, and the train accelerated and decelerated smoothly. The trains and infrastructure of Tren Maya are brand new, sleek, and modern. Accessibility seems to be built into the trains and stations themselves. Of course accessibility is a broad term. There are many different types of disabilities that can affect a person’s mobility, vision, hearing, communicating, and more. From a mobility perspective, there were dedicated spaces for wheelchair users and large accessible bathrooms. And stations have elevators and staff to help passengers with mobility needs reach and board the train.
The train is more or less level with the platform at each station which makes boarding simple. To get on, the staff placed a small metal ramp across the gap, even though I could have managed the gap without assistance. This is much better than the very complicated boarding procedures for other European or Amtrak trains that involve ramps, elevators, catapults (okay, this is an exaggeration, but not by much). The “curb-cut effect” means this is a design feature that benefits everyone, not just people with mobility issues. For instance people with luggage, strollers, bicycles or other items will have an easier time as well.
Connectivity
While the trains and stations themselves are great, connectivity to other local destinations and modes of travel is sorely lacking. Rather than being located in city centers like historic train stations, many of the Tren Maya stations are built far from the city center or even in a nearby municipality.
For example, the Cancún station is located near the city’s airport, around 10 miles away from what might be considered the center of the city. And similar to an airport, the station is large and sprawling with limited pedestrian access, creating a dependence on car or taxi. The difficulty of reaching the station can discourage travelers from taking the train, and adds extra time and costs. In fact, depending on where you are going, and the availability of taxis, a ride to the station could be similar to the price of the train ticket itself. The station for Mérida is located in a neighboring municipality (several miles away from the city) and Campeche’s station is on the other side of the city’s airport, around eight miles away from the city center via highway.
This is a major issue and creates extra obstacles for all users, especially ones with disabilities. It’s too late to move the stations, and we can expect that some development will happen around them. Still, it’s important that the Tren Maya addresses connectivity for all passengers to make it easy, smooth and inviting. This “last mile” problem is a common one in transportation. Transportation modes and infrastructure are only as good as the network around them. Improvements such as sidewalks and bike lanes are vital to support people getting from the station to any nearby destinations. In order to fully realize its potential, Tren Maya needs these infrastructure improvements as well as fast, frequent, accessible, and reliable transit connections between all stations and key destinations.