As big fans of train travel, when we heard the Yucatan peninsula was implementing a rail system we felt we had to check it out. After reading up on it a bit and speaking with some people in Playa del Carmen we did so with some trepidation.
At initial glimpse it is nothing short of spectacular. The station, numerous tracks, and plentiful personnel are very impressive.
There are a lot of questions about the lack of concern shown for the mangroves, the water supply, and the environment in general. Apparently a lot of money and political desire was put into the project with an insanely fast schedule. Time will tell whether the cost will be worth it.
All that being said, the stations and trains are awesome. You can tell they are still working out the procedural kinks of running a rail system, but the bones are definitely there. Hopefully their marketing will get some traction and they will start to see an increase in ridership.Our first trip was from Cancún to Mérida. Only about 20% of the seats were occupied as we left Cancún, but we were at around 80% full by the time we arrived at Mérida.
When we did our cenote diving we had the geological history of why the Yucatan peninsula is so flat explained to us. However it was not until we spent a few hours crossing the interior did we truly realize just how flat it is. It honestly puts the Canadian prairies to shame for featureless landscapes.
For our trip, tickets were $978 pesos for Tourist and $1565 pesos for Premier. For the extra $50CDN per person we decided to live on the edge and travel Premier. It was our inaugural trip after all.Not to mention, Premier tickets included a hot sandwich served with a beverage.Our 3 hour and 50 minute trip departed on time and arrived on time. I don’t know if this is normal, but we were pleasantly surprised. In the last year I don’t know if we have taken a plane anywhere that actually arrived on time and we disembarked with no delays.The Mérida train station was just as new and just as clean as Cancún had been. Honestly every train car and building we entered still had that “new car” smell.After arrival in Mérida we had no trouble getting a taxi and being on our way in minutes after arrival. It is so new they don’t even have the harassing numbers of taxi drivers competing for your business.
As our first trip on the train was such a success we decided to take it back to Cancún at the end of our month in Mérida. One thing we did learn was to make sure to take Uber to and from the station. When we arrived our taxi fare to our rental was 350 pesos. When we did the return trip using Uber from our rental to the train station it was 137 pesos, and the car was much cleaner.
Once again the train departed exactly on time and arrived in Cancún right on time.I took a Quick Look in Tourist Class to see what the difference was to Premier Class. The main thing is the seats are two and two as opposed to two and one in Premier. So a little less room all round. It was good to see how busy the cars were.In the Premier car we enjoyed the extra space and convenient power outlets at each seat.Not to mention the delicious meal that is included with our tickets. In all seriousness, the hot sandwich was very good.
All in all our experience on Tren Maya was 100% positive. They even had a free shuttle waiting to take us to the airport when we arrived in Cancún. The bus has its own private road from the train station to the airport so it does not have to deal with the traffic on the highway.
I would not hesitate to utilize Tren Maya to explore more of the Yucatan peninsula.
I thought the cartels ruled the taxi business in Cancun with past violence against Uber drivers to monopolize the place. I’m in Tuxtla right now and Uber is here but it isn’t available from Zihuatanejo down to Salina Cruz (I assume for the same reason). You’re correct though, I avoid taxis in Mexico por the filth, unfriendliness, rip-offs and drivers that have no idea where they’re going. You need to copilot on google maps para get to where you’re going
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