With time running out, the construction of the Mayan Train is advancing at the same time that the public resources allocated to the main railway project of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador have skyrocketed, as a result of the various changes made on the fly (such as the electrification of half of the 1,500 km and the changes in layout and construction method in sections 5 and 6, in Quintana Roo)
At the end of the first quarter of this year, the work has a total progress of 58.3% and an estimated cost of 359,863.3 million nominal pesos, which already represents an increase of 130.7% compared to the amount established at the end of 2020 (156,000.4 million pesos), the year in which the project was officially registered with the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP).
In August 2018, the president announced the extension of the train route from 900 to 1,500 km, which would require an investment of between 120,000 and 150,000 million pesos (despite the fact that the first technical studies to define the cost began in 2019), which would come from public and private resources.
Regarding the evolution of the physical progress of the work and its cost, it is only possible to have details in the quarterly reports on the economic situation, finances and public debt published by the SHCP, the most recent being the one related to the period January-March of 2023.
Every Monday, at López Obrador’s conferences, some progress of the work and videos are released, but there are no details of resources invested. Even, to date, the official cost of the train is unknown because since June 2022 (when the amount of 167,341.6 million pesos was made public, which was the third adjustment) the phrase “to be defined” appears in the official information.
Three days ago, the director of the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur), Javier May said that in section 3 more than 11,000 jobs have been generated, which starts at the Mérida-Teya station on the 60-kilometer double electrified track , although the double track adds 700 kilometers to Chetumal, because that is part of the environmental responsibility of the train.
millionaire resources
The last official amount for the Mayan Train was shared not by Fonatur but by the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SICT), in its 2022 National Railway Program, published last June: 230,000 million pesos for the construction of the little more than 1,500 km long.
The 359,863.3 million pesos referred to above for the work come from adding the 220,853.1 million pesos already exercised between 2020 and 2022 (of which 81% correspond to last year, according to the information of the respective Public Account), with the 139,010.2 million pesos destined for this year.
Initially, for 2022 a budget of 62,942.1 million pesos was approved and during the following months it increased to 179,693.3 million in the category of mass passenger transport projects in the Ministry of Tourism in its capacity as head of the sector.
The reasons for said increase are explained by: higher expenditures to cover remunerations of temporary, command and liaison personnel, resources destined to the acquisition of administration materials, issuance of official documents and articles, construction and repair materials and articles, and fuels , lubricants and additives and spending on contracting basic services, among others.
In addition, the “disbursements in the acquisition of railway equipment, communications and telecommunications equipment and apparatus, machinery and electrical and electronic equipment, adjudications, expropriations and indemnities of real estate” were relevant.
Among the public figures related to the train, it stands out that by 2023, when it is working at full speed to meet the Presidential requirement, in the first quarter resources have been reduced by 2.8% (4,063.1 million pesos) and that only 10% of the budget was spent on the work that “rain, shine or lightning” will be inaugurated next December.
