Mexico’s Maya Train — built to attract tourists to sites on the Yucatan Peninsula — has little chance of becoming profitable without the development of freight traffic on the route, the operation’s general director said this month.
The news site Infobae reports that, at a seminar of the Mexican Railway Association earlier this month, Gen. Óscar David Lozano Águila said no railway company in the world reaches profitability solely through passenger operations, and the Maya Train is no exception. “To reach the break-even point, we need cargo,” Lozano Águila said. “It’s a fundamental component.” Toward that end, construction of infrastructure needed for freight operations began in April. The first freight operations could begin in 2026, but full infrastructure work will not be completed until 2027, he said.
Lozano Águila’s statement came shortly after the release of figures showing the passenger operation was deeply unprofitable in its first year, during which only part of the system was operating.
El Financiero reports operating costs were 2.837 billion pesos ($147.7 million) in 2024, against 275 million pesos ($14.32 million) in fares and souvenir sales — or about 9.6% of the costs. The company received some 13 billion pesos ($676.8 million) in government support to address operating expenses and infrastructure work.
El Financiero also reported that only 6% of the train’s passengers are foreign tourists. From December 2023 to May 13 of this year, 77,027 passengers were from outside of Mexico — about 149 per day — which the news site contrasts with the 20 million international visitors who arrive annually at Cancún’s airport.
The first segment of the looping 966-mile (1,554-kilometer) route connecting Cancún to archaelogicial sites around the peninsula opened in December 2023, with the last section completed a year later [see “Mexican president opens final segment …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 16, 2024].
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