The lack of response from customers shows the limited usefulness of the Tren Maya, the flagship project of the 4T
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Despite being presented as one of the flagship projects of the self-proclaimed 4T, the Tren Maya doesn't generate the promised enthusiasm either as a mobility alternative or as a tourist product.
Far from being a development project, the train promoted by López Obrador has begun to show its inefficacy in economic return and social impact.
El proyecto insignia de AMLO es subsidiado 99% por el gobierno
According to data presented at Palacio Nacional by Óscar Lozano Águila, the project director, there are tourist packages that combine flights with Mexicana de Aviación. Also, accommodation in hotels operated by Sedena and journeys on the Tren Maya itself, but all have had a practically null response.
Between December 2024 and March 2025, the programs “Ruta de las Maravillas” and “Mares y Lagunas” attracted, together, less than two people per day.
Usuarios han reportado vagones vacíos
In numbers, the package “Ruta de las Maravillas,” which covers destinations like Mérida, Chichén Itzá, and Valladolid, barely achieved 138 buyers in more than two and a half months.
“Mares y Lagunas,” focused on areas like Tulum, Bacalar, and Chetumal, was purchased by only 103 people in two months. A ridiculous figure for a project whose investment exceeds 500 billion pesos and whose operation falls under the Mexican Army.
El gobierno reconoció hace poco el daño irreversible a la selva
Failure in mobility goals
The daily operation of the Tren Maya also doesn't meet the established objectives. While former president López Obradorpromised 8,200 daily passengers, the administration of Claudia Sheinbaumadjusted the figure to 3,287 passengers per day.
However, the current average is just 2,222 users per day, a figure far below the projections. Additionally, it highlights the low demand for this means of transport.
In 15 months of operation, the Tren Maya has transported around one million passengers, which represents just 36% of the original goal and 91% of the adjusted goal. Even so, the government will celebrate this week the millionth passenger in a symbolic act that can hardly disguise the project's inefficiency.
El Tren Maya costó tres veces más de lo proyectado
New routes for Easter... without tourism support
In an attempt to revive demand, the federal government announced 10 new tourist packages for the Easter season. These include flights from AIFA, journeys on the Tren Maya, accommodation and meals in Sedena hotels, and entries to archaeological sites.
These new packages have attracted 360 people from 117 families, with a total of 786 train tickets and 700 plane tickets sold.
Despite the efforts, the Tren Maya is emerging as a monument to wastefulness: a pharaonic work sustained by the treasury, managed by the Army and rejected by tourism. The return on investment looks increasingly distant —if not impossible—, and it consolidates as one of the most costly whims of the past administration.
