halocline
Contributor
Yep, disaster. AMLO really screwed the pooch on this one.
Tren Maya
- Thread starter oya
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I have seen the damage, but what I'd like to know more about now is whether the train is having the intended economic effect on the rural residents that AMLO touted. The train is not a good thing for people like me, who don't mind driving and enjoy the still relatively unspoiled remoteness of it all, but I also recognize I am not the intended recipient of the main benefits. When I was last in the region six months or so ago, dive industry folks I asked seemed in agreement that local rural residents generally favored the project. So, is it working out for them?
They generally favor it. That does not mean it is working out for them. It will not, IMO.
Divin' Ivan
Registered
This is very subjective. Also people in the area are very cautious about challenging the government. Environmental activists end up dead in Mexico. The construction is ongoing with lots of employment resulting. So the "sugar high" is still being felt. Once that wears off I fear the people will find that for convenience, they have traded away forever their fragile environment and indigenous cultures. You have to see it, to believe how bad the devastation is. They are driving pilings through the limestone into the cave systems. In other places they simply fill in the caves with cement. All in the name of progress.
I agree we may never see reliable data on what it's done economically for the rural residents or how they feel about it, even years from now. The caves are invisible to them, though, and for all I know some would rather live in a concrete jungle.
OP
Two separate but equally important issues:
Activists, environmental and otherwise, have simply been ignored. All the way to the supreme court... just ignored. It's less effort than killing.
Yes. This, however, is important.
The train is going to be nearly useless, even when the loop through Section 5 is complete. They're running almost completely empty... almost never on time... breakdowns, delays, and derailments... which certainly doesn't speak well for expansion. And not a single station along its entire route is anywhere remotely usefull.
It is hugely profitable now providing tons of construction jobs that pay really, really well as compared to the average wage.
When it's done, though...
It's likely to be like... Mount Rushmore. Big. Grand. A lot of effort. But effectively ugly as hell and utterly useless.
This one is less important as concerns the Tren Maya. While there is certainly a history of kidnapping and violence in certain areas over certain conflicts, the train isn't one of them.
Activists, environmental and otherwise, have simply been ignored. All the way to the supreme court... just ignored. It's less effort than killing.
Yes. This, however, is important.
The train is going to be nearly useless, even when the loop through Section 5 is complete. They're running almost completely empty... almost never on time... breakdowns, delays, and derailments... which certainly doesn't speak well for expansion. And not a single station along its entire route is anywhere remotely usefull.
It is hugely profitable now providing tons of construction jobs that pay really, really well as compared to the average wage.
When it's done, though...
It's likely to be like... Mount Rushmore. Big. Grand. A lot of effort. But effectively ugly as hell and utterly useless.
I have been there in march this year. And I spoke to some workers. They are really happy with their job and believe it will work.
I haven't seen damage in the caves, but I have seen pictures of damage. So there is, but it is not in every cave happely.
I think new tourists who don't know how it was will take the train in future. Others still will use cars or buses. So completely useless I cannot say, but I also cannot see if there is a real need for it. But we discussed it when we were there: would it be possible to visit 1 of the big archeological sites by train? Then maybe it is an option, but it isn't if you still need to take a bus from the station to the sites. Also of course the train must go often so you don't need to wait in the heat.
There is a lot of jungle gone now. I don't know if the owners of the jungle were paid for it or not. I have heard not all have been paid.
I haven't seen damage in the caves, but I have seen pictures of damage. So there is, but it is not in every cave happely.
I think new tourists who don't know how it was will take the train in future. Others still will use cars or buses. So completely useless I cannot say, but I also cannot see if there is a real need for it. But we discussed it when we were there: would it be possible to visit 1 of the big archeological sites by train? Then maybe it is an option, but it isn't if you still need to take a bus from the station to the sites. Also of course the train must go often so you don't need to wait in the heat.
There is a lot of jungle gone now. I don't know if the owners of the jungle were paid for it or not. I have heard not all have been paid.
The overhead electric lines will be connected to a natural gas generator anyway.
And of course those shuttle buses will run on time and frequently enough. Sure. The problem of the stations being located some distance from the archaeological sites and from the centers of towns (think Merida and Campeche) is a bit like the problem we in the US have in some of our smaller cities outside of the East Coast corridor; you still have to drive a car to/from the train stations or take some kind of shuttle bus, so many people just forgo the train option and drive end to end. I suspect a substantial number of tourists will still opt for private vans and buses that whisk them directly between their origin and destination.
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