MAYA TRAIN MAKES INAUGURAL VOYAGE ON YUCATÁN PENINSULA

 

Tren Maya

Tren Maya, a high-caliber, high-cost infrastructure project connecting both the eastern and western coasts of the Yucatán Peninsula while crossing five states in southeastern Mexico inaugurated its first phase of the 1,525 kilometers of railway tracks on December 15. 

Beginning in Cancun and ending in the Gulf city of Campeche, Mexican President Andrés López  Obrador (Amlo) projected it will provide travelers an alternative to driving long distances between major attractions on the Peninsula and initiate new jobs in the process, lifting southeastern Mexico’s economy. 

With one phase partially ready and two still incomplete, the $28 billion dollar train, originally estimated to cost $9.8 billion USD, remains highly controversial. On completion, the rail will feature 34 stations-five states.

Depending on who you talk to, it’s either “the greatest railway project built anywhere in the world,” (Amlo) or “an attack on the environment and the Mayan identity,” (Pedro Uc, member of the Assembly of Mayan Territory Defenders, Múuch X’ilinbal).

At first the cries were but a whimper, with conservationists, the occasional archeologist, or Riviera Maya environmentalist sounding alarm. But now, after nearly three years of overwhelming construction and forest purge, the cries of elimination and contamination have been heard from as far off as The South China Post, Japan Times and New Delhi Times to newspapers much closer to home. This 'feat' promised by the Mexican president has been both lauded and maligned in media coverage everywhere. 

LARGEST JUNGLE IN THE AMERICAS

The Riviera Maya, which the train passes through, is the largest jungle in Americas after the Amazon and the 947 miles of tracks resulted in cutting of 3.4 million trees, according to the Mexican government. Environmentalists suggest the real number is closer to 10 million, as reported by The Guardian.

Tren Maya Route Map

With little transparency and a near delinquent lack of geological testing, an unknown amount of underground caves and ancient Maya cenotes, fresh water sinkholes sacred to the Maya but also an intrinsic part of their water requirements, are at risk. 

Environmentalists, archeologists, concerned locals, and even the U.N., have voiced concern that the railway and its hasty construction will critically endanger pristine wilderness and ancient cave and eco-systems beneath the jungle floor. Portions of the train route extend over a fragile system of underground rivers, including the world's longest, that are unique to the Yucatán Peninsula.

But with the train already billions over budget and behind schedule, scientists and activists, according to Reuters which has closely monitored and documented the evolution of Amlo's flagship project, says the government cut corners in its environmental risk assessments in a bid to complete it while López Obrador is still in office.

U.N. CLOCKS IN

U.N. experts warned the railway's status as a national security project allowed the government to side-step usual environmental safeguards and they called on the Mexican government to protect the environment in line with global standards.

FONATUR however defended the speed with which the studies were produced claiming that, "Years are not required. Expertise, knowledge and integration capacity are required," in response to questions from Reuters. It also declined to comment on the U.N. statement.

CENOTES

The Mayan Train route cuts a swath 14 meters (46 feet) wide through some of the world's most unique ecosystems, bringing civilization closer to vulnerable species such as jaguars and bats. It will pass above a system of thousands of subterranean caves carved by water from the region's soft limestone bedrock over millions of years.

Early on, July 2020, researchers from 65 Mexican and 26 international institutions signed "Observations on the Environmental Impact Assessment of the Mayan Train" claiming it would cause "serious and irreversible harm."

Said one environmentalist, "When you destroy territory, you destroy a way of thinking, a way of seeing, a way of life, a way of explaining the reality that is part of our identity as Mayan peoples."

When interviewed by NBC Latino, Lidia Camel Put, a resident of one area being cleared said, "There is nothing Maya about the train. Some people say it will bring great benefits but for us Maya that work the land and live here, we don't see any benefits.

"For us, it will hurt us because they are taking away what we love so much, the land," she said.

When marines showed up to start cutting down trees to prepare for the train on the edge of the village, residents who hadn't been paid for their expropriated land stopped them from working.

POLLUTION FACTOR

For residents of Vida y Esperanza, the train will run right by their doors. They fear it will pollute the caves that supply them water, endanger their children, and cut off their access from the outside world. In Vida y Esperanza, the train will run directly through the rutted four-mile dirt road that leads to the nearest paved highway. FONATUR says an overpass will be built for Vida y Esperanza, but such promises have gone unfulfilled in the past.

SAFETY ISSUES

The high-speed train can't have at-grade crossings (where a roadway and rail lines cross at same level), and won't be fenced. One-hundred mile per hour trains will rush past an elementary school, and most students walk to get there. Equally jarring, the train project has actually divided the pueblo Vida y Esperanza in half.

Not far from where acres of trees have been felled to prepare the land for train tracks, an archeologist and cave diver, Octavio Del Rio, pointed to a cave that lay directly beneath the train's path. "The cave's limestone roof is only two or three feet thick in some places," he told NBC. "It would almost certainly collapse under the weight of a speeding train."

FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM

"If built badly, the railway could risk breaking through the fragile ground, including into yet-to-be discovered caves," said Mexican geochemist Emiliano Monroy-Rios of Northwestern University. He has extensively studied the area's caves and cenotes.

"Diesel," he added, "could also leak into the network of subterranean pools and rivers, a main source of fresh water on the Peninsula." With less than 20 percent of the subterranean system believed to have been mapped, according to several scientists interviewed by Reuters, such damage could limit important geological discoveries. 

In 2022, López Obrador wanted to finish the entire project in 16 months by filling the caves with cement or sinking concrete columns though the caverns to support the weight of the passing trains, as reported by The Chicago Sun-Times. This could block or contaminate the underground water system, the only thing that allowed humans to survive in a land of fickle rain fall. 'I rely on water from a cenote to wash dishes and bathe," said Mario Basto, a resident of Vida y Esperanza.

IMPACT STUDY

The government's environmental impact study for Section 5, a 68-mile and most controversial stretch that runs from Cancun to Tulum, states its environmental impacts are "insignificant" and have been adequately mitigated, Reuters wrote. The study adheres that the risk of collapse was taken into account in the engineering of the tracks and that the area will be observed through a "prevention" program.

However, dozens of scientists disagree, writing in open letters that the assessments are riddled with problems, including outdated data, the omission of recently discovered caves, and a lack of input from local hydrology experts.

"They don't want to recognize the fragility of the land," said Fernanda Lases, a Merida-based scientist with UNAM, calling the problems identified "worrisome." And adding insult to injury, the names of the 70 experts who participated in the government study were redacted from the publication.

Monroy-Rios said his research highlights the need for extensive surveillance and monitoring for any infrastructure project in the region, and this has not happened. "I guess their conclusions were pre-formatted," he continued. 

"They want to do it fast and that's part of the problem. There is no time for proper exploration.
The railway has deeply divided Mexicans and the controversies surrounding the construction exemplify struggles developing countries across the globe face to balance economic progress with environmental responsibility, Reuters wrote.

LOOMING MILITARY

López Obrador has already given the military more tasks than any other recent Mexican president, with armed services personnel doing everything from building airports to transporting medicine to running tree nurseries. The army will operate the train project once it is built, and the proceeds from that will be used to provide pensions for soldiers and sailors. The president said the army is among the most trustworthy and honest institutions in the country.

For more than two years Maya communities have been objecting to the train line, filing court challenges arguing the railway violated their right to a safe, clean environment, and that they be consulted. Back in 2019, the Mexico office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights found that the consultations the government did prepare were flawed.

How will it all play out? As of February 28, the military-controlled Tren Maya S.A. de C.V. announced the passenger and cargo rail route will begin operations on December 1, 2023.” It will be one of the best rail systems in the world," said Javier May Rodriguez, general director of FONATUR. "Its trips will be safe because it will have state of the art technology." December 1 marks the date of the fifth year anniversary of Amlo's presidency. Auspicious timing? Or not. Time will tell. 

Tracks Outside Valladolid

If you enjoyed this post, check out  Where the Sky is Born: Living in the Land of the Maya, on Amazon. My website is www.jeaninekitchel.com. Books one and two in my Mexico cartel trilogy, Wheels Up—A Novel of Drugs, Cartels and Survival, and Tulum Takedown, are also on Amazon. And my journalistic overview of the Maya 2012 calendar phenomenon, Maya 2012 Revealed: Demystifying the Prophecy, is on Amazon.

HOW MEXICO'S YUCATÁN SINKHOLES AND UNDERGROUND RIVERS WERE FORMED

 

Photo MexicanCaribbeanTravel

CENOTES

PART 2

The Yucatán Peninsula emerged 65 million years ago as a vast coral reef according to geologists. As the oceans receded, mollusks died, creating the limestone shelf that now covers the Peninsula's porous land. Rain waters filtered down into the substructure and created underground rivers. After the last ice age, the oceans rose to their current levels and flooded the caves left by the lacy limestone shelves, collapsing some, creating sinkholes, commonly known as cenotes in Yucatán. Though not unique to the Yucatán, cenotes are fairly uncommon geological formations, and they can vary considerably in shape and size.

Image from CenoteFinder

Although cenotes are plentiful in the Yucatán, with thousands known, exploring them is a fairly new phenomenon. In the 1980s, geologists identified 21 variations and have since narrowed these down to five basic types: open air, angled wall, vertical wall as at Chichen Itza, cavern pool with stalactites, and underground domed.

Open air Carwash Cenote near Tulum (photo theworldisaplayground.com)

CAVE SYSTEMS

Some cenotes have small surface openings but unfold into an intricate cave system that can literally run for miles. This cenote type is popular with cave divers and tackled by professionals like diver Mike Madden, formerly of Puerto Morelos. Madden did some of the first explorations near Tulum, Quintana Roo, under the auspices of CEDAM (Club de Exploraciones y Deportes Acuaticos de Mexico) earning a spot in the 1988 Guinness Book of World Records for documenting the world's longest underwater cave system—168,400 feet in all—called Giant Birdhouse or in Mayan, Nohoch Nah Chich. Madden's explorations proved that an intricate series of meandering underground waterways exists, connecting cenote to cenote.

Nohoch Nah Chich Cenote (photo Steve Gerrard)

Considered an extreme sport, cave diving is gaining popularity and it's not uncommon to bump into serious divers on Yucatán's cenote route.

In colonial Valladolid, 28 miles east of Chichen Itza, Cenote Zaci can be found. A cavern pool 150 feet wide, its turquoise waters show off stalactites and there is a walkway around the entire cenote, to better view the massive pool. An adjoining restaurant lights up the area at night for diners who can either eat inside or on an expansive deck overlooking the fresh water pool.

MOST PHOTOGRAPHED CENOTE

Four miles south of Valladolid off a narrow, two-lane road is Centoe Dzitnup. An underground cenote with angled walls, it has a hole in its ceiling where sunlight streams in at mid-day. Tree roots stretch down from the rocky ceiling to reach the clear, still waters below. One of the most photographed of Yucatán's cenotes, a steep slippery descent leads one into this underground cavern.

Underground Cenote Dzitnup (photo Cliff Wassman)

Ten miles north of Merida, Yucatán's capital made famous for manufacturing Panama hats at the turn of the 20th century, Xlacah Cenote can be found at the Dzibilchaltun ruins. A popular cooling off spot, this open air cenote is not connected to any underground pools and seems more like a local swimming hole than a cenote.

AMAZING CAVES IMAX FILM

Dos Ojos (photo HiddenWorlds)

Leaving Yucatán and entering Riviera Maya territory, cenotes dot Highway 307 south of Playa del Carmen, 42 miles from Cancun. Dos Ojos, south of Playa, was the site of the Amazing Caves IMAX diving film. The film shows stunning footage of underground caverns with stalactites and stalagmites, and was the highest grossing giant screen documentary film of 2001. Well worth a watch.

IMAX Journey Into Amazing Caves (Blu-Ray review)

Aktun-Chen combines both a cenote and the area's largest caves within a massive rainforest park, ten miles north of the Tulum pyramids. A bit further south at the Coba pyramid turnoff, Car Wash Cenote is located on a road dotted with sinkholes. A wide pool, unspectacular at first sight but good for swimming, Car Wash opens into an underwater cave where freshwater tropical fish cruise alongside turtles.

SOUTHERN CENOTES

Heading south to Belize, Cenote Azul is located in Bacalar, 25 miles north of QRoo's capitol, Chetumal. Situated near Bacalar's famous Lagoon of the Seven Colors, the second largest fresh water lake in Mexico, Cenote Azul is Mexico's largest cenote. Stretching 600 feet in diameter, this stunning turquoise-colored cenote is a perfect spot for a swim. 

Cenote Azul near Bacalar (photo LocoGringo.com)

This vast peninsula, comprised of low scrub jungles and knockout white sand beaches, was considered "the most savage coast in Central America" only 60 years ago. No paved road existed in Quintana Roo, now home to Cancun, which was then just a territory.

 

It would not become Mexico's 31st state until 1973. Trying hard to overturn their mediocre at best ecological record, the Mexico government established the 1.3 million acre Sian Kaan Biosphere Reserve in 1986 in Quintana Roo, in hopes of preserving this outstanding piece of Mother Nature.

Sian Ka'an Eco Biosphere Reserve (photo UNESCO)

SIAN KA'AN UNESCO SITE

Named a World Heritage site by UNESCO, the biosphere encompasses hundreds of species of local birds, plants, mammals and fish along with acres of mangroves, lagoons and savannas. Sian Ka'an is all about eco-tourism and the preservation of this massive stretch of land, which covers one third of the Caribbean coast of Mexico. The reserve contains a buffer zone where limited human activity is allowed, such as bone-fishing or boat trips through the lagoons out to the Great Meso-American Reef, the world's second largest reef.

These cenotes are but a handful of many the Yucatán Peninsula has to offer. Local tour guides and guidebooks can lead to spur of the moment or planned cenote adventures, plus ensure a cool dip in a crystal clear fresh water pool for your efforts as a reward.

For more information on Mexico, the Maya and the Yucatán, subscribe to my bi-monthly blog above or check out my website, www.jeaninekitchel.com. I'm also author of a travel memoir, Where the Sky is Born: Living in the Land of the Maya, that details how I bought land, built a house and became an expat in a fishing village on the Mexican Caribbean coast. It's available on Amazon, as are books one and two in my crime thriller trilogy, Wheels Up—A Novel of Drugs, Cartels and Survival, along with Tulum Takedown.