Project goes off the rails

Playa del Carmen – Bulldozers sit idle next to tree stumps along the disputed route of a new Mexican tourist train. Beneath the jungle, environmentalists warn a magical labyrinth of underground rivers and caves is also under threat.

The rail link under construction between popular Caribbean beach resorts and archaeological ruins is at the centre of a legal battle between authorities and activists.

Last month, a judge suspended work on part of the roughly 1 500km-long Mayan Train – a flagship project of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Opponents fear a section between Playa del Carmen and Tulum will cause irreparable damage to a subterranean network of caves, rivers and freshwater sinkholes known as cenotes connected to the Caribbean Sea.

“It’s suicide,” said Tania Ramirez, a 42-year-old activist and cave expert. “It’s like cutting your wrists.”

Often filled with stunning emerald or turquoise waters illuminated by a shaft of light from above, cenotes are a major attraction for tourists visiting the Riviera Maya in the Yucatan Peninsula.

The sinkholes number in the thousands in the lush Mayan jungle and are connected to a giant aquifer that is a source of drinking water for local communities.

The most recently discovered cave holds archaeological remains, said Ramirez, who believes indigenous people once kept food there.

“You can find a cave at every step,” she said.

While authorities often insist the caves are not on the planned line, but rather next to it, in reality everything is connected, Ramirez added.

The original plan for the disputed section was for an overpass over a highway, but the route was modified to go through jungle at ground level.

Lopez Obrador, who hopes to inaugurate the railroad at the end of 2023, said the reason was that the land is firmer in the jungle further inland with fewer cenotes and rivers.

The original route also upset the hotel industry due to the congestion caused by construction work in the urban area.

In April, a court in the southeastern state of Yucatan ordered the suspension of work on the disputed section.

The judge cited a lack of environmental impact studies – grounds that the government plans to challenge in upcoming hearings.