Mexico’s Maya Train derails in the Yucatan Peninsula, but no injuries reported

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IZAMAL, Mexico (AP) — A tourist-focused Maya Train running along Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula derailed Tuesday as it was slowly pulling into a station, the train line said in a statement. There were no injuries.

The train was running from the Caribbean resort of Cancun to the Yucatan capital Merida when it left the tracks at the station in Izamal.

Passengers were transported the rest of the way by bus. The accident was under investigation but the train was operating normally between other stations, the statement said.

Photos and videos circulated online showed one car off the tracks, leaning but not overturned.

A federal official who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the incident said part of the derailed car leaned onto a train on a parallel track but there was no collision.

The Maya Train was an enormous legacy project of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. It began running in late 2023, but produced paltry ridership.

López Obrador forced the project through before environmental impact or feasibility studies were completed. Environmentalists documented severe impacts to the delicate cave systems under the train line that provide much of the peninsula’s drinking water.

López Obrador had said tourists would use it to depart from Cancun and explore the whole 950-mile (1,500-kilometer) route to visit the Mayan archaeological sites that dot the peninsula.

Much of the ridership thus far has been on short stretches between the city of Merida and Cancun.

In March 2024, the train reported another derailment as a train passed a switch entering the Tixkokob, Yucatán station. One car derailed and there were no reported injuries.

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AP journalist Fabiola Sánchez in Mexico City contributed to this report.