Last Updated
It’s not entirely to be unexpected. But the start of the new highly touted Maya Train project hasn’t come without its initial hiccups. In fact, traveler feedback is saying that the first runs of the new Mexican Caribbean train service have come with significant passenger delays.
Hours of Delays
The train will definitely be a great benefit for tourists to the Mexican Caribbean once some of the bugs get worked out of the system.
In one of the first runs of the train on its inaugural day of December 15, the train from Campeche’s San Francisco station unfortunately ended up arriving four hours late at the station in Cancun.
Cause of the significant delay? According to Alstom, the company in charge of the construction of the new Maya Train railway, the delay was due to configuration problems.
Travelers React to the Late Arrival
Passengers lined up in a light rain hours before the morning departure from Campeche to Cancun to be one of the first to ride the new train.
Some of them were travelers from Mexico City and other parts of the country who came just to be one of the first tourists to ride the train.
But the excitement of being one of the first to board the new train quickly wore off when word came of the four-hour delay. They reported being very disappointed with the overall initial performance of the train and even took to social media to voice their displeasure.
En su primer día de operaciones, el Tren Maya se retrasó casi 4 horas por una falla técnica. Obviamente no falla la vieja confiable:
— Princesa Fifiona (@PFifiona) December 16, 2023
"Ezdeke no fuimos nosotros, fue la empresa que nos vendió los trenes…" 🤦♀️pic.twitter.com/IQNfyFNPLY
Even local media outlets simply remarked that “nobody is perfect” about the four-hour delay on the first day of the Maya Train service.
The Train Keeps Moving
Over time, the bugs and kinks will be worked out of the train service and eventually it will be just a funny memory in what is expected to become a convenient service to help bring transportation options to locals and travelers to Cancun and beyond.
It’s not unusual to find issues with track alignment, passenger ticketing and even passenger car connectivity in the first couple months of service.
Alstom, the construction company in charge of building out the new train service, has accepted responsibility for the challenges of the first couple days and remains committed to getting the new Maya Train service back on track, no pun intended, quickly.
They dispatched workers to investigate the source of the delay was soon as it was recognized and have worked to resolve the issue to provide better service for visitors to the Mexican Caribbean in the future.
Ironically, the first slow-arriving train was fittingly christened as “Xiimbal”, which is the Mayan term for “walk”.
What Travelers Need to Know
Tourists riding the brand-new Maya Train in the Mexican Caribbean should anticipate these types of unexpected delays for at least the first couple weeks, if not months, of service.
While they may be disappointing and upsetting to travelers, it is common for a new transportation service to have a few issues to still work out of the system.
It is guaranteed that travelers to the new Tulum International Airport, which also opened for service this month, are also going through less publicized issues with the new airport.
Eventually, the new transportation options for travelers to Merida, Cancun, Tulum, Bacalar and beyond will benefit from the new Maya Train service and the convenient access it will provide to many different parts of the region.
It will just take a little extra patience, flexible time commitments and a sense of humor for travelers to work through the initial challenges of the new train system that will make travel much more convenient for visitors to the beach resort vacation destinations in the area.
Plan Your Next Cancun Vacation:
Traveler Alert: Don’t Forget Travel Insurance For Your Next Trip!
Choose From Thousands of Cancun and Riviera Maya Hotels, Resorts and Hostels with Free Cancellation On Most Properties
↓ Join the community ↓
The Cancun Sun Community FB group has all the latest travel news, conversations and tourism Q&A’s for the Mexican Caribbean
Subscribe to our Latest Posts
Enter your email address to subscribe to The Cancun Sun’s latest breaking news affecting travelers, straight to your inbox.