The Maya Train, a megaproject of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is once again at the center of controversy after reports surfaced that the railway project, along with the network of hotels built along its route, registered a combined deficit of 6.398 billion pesos during 2025.
Despite this reported deficit, a substantial sum was allocated for promoting the Maya Train and its hotels at national and international tourism fairs during 2026.
According to El Universal, the financial breakdown indicates that the Maya Train reported losses of 3.579 billion pesos in the period from January to September 2025 alone.
To offset the train’s deficit, the administration used 2.168 billion pesos from a trust fund, in addition to 1.176 billion pesos for [unclear – possibly “other funds”]. Transfers, allocations, and subsidies.
The railroad’s own revenues totaled 387,076,000 pesos, most of which came from passenger transport.
Meanwhile, the seven hotels managed by Grupo Mundo Maya accumulated a negative balance of 2,819,703,399 pesos last year.
It’s worth noting that the Mundo Maya Group operates seven hotel complexes strategically located along the route:
Nuevo Uxmal and Chichén Itzá, Yucatán
Edzná and the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, Campeche
Palenque, Chiapas
Jaguar Park in Tulum, Quintana Roo, and in the vicinity of the airport in that city
Additionally, the military administration manages three recreational parks:
The conservation area in Nuevo Uxmal
La Plancha Park in Mérida
Jaguar Park
The asset inventory also includes the Santa Lucía Quinametzin Paleontological Museum, located at the Felipe Ángeles International Airport, which has six permanent exhibition halls.
Despite the negative balances, the Ministry of Defense directly awarded two contracts to the company Creatividad y Espectáculos S.A. de C.V. for a total of 28,186,000 pesos.
The purpose of this expenditure is to promote the Maya Train and its hotels at national and international tourism fairs during 2026.
Fitur: Madrid, Spain, January 21-25
Tianguis Turístico: Acapulco, April 27-30
ITB China: Shanghai, May 26-28
Top Resa: Paris, France, September 15-17
WTM: London, United Kingdom, November 3-5
The technical annex of the contract specifies that “the supplier must use updated images that avoid projecting a negative perception, prohibiting the use of material showing construction sites or dirty trains.”
The director of the Maya Train, Óscar David Lozano, acknowledged last May that passenger transport has not been profitable and that the break-even point is projected for 2030.
Currently, the system transports an average of 2,474 people daily, representing 30.17% of its established goal of 8,200 daily passengers.
Considering that the total cost of the project reached 544 billion pesos, the proportional cost per passenger transported until August 11, 2025, is estimated at 361,000 pesos.
The administration has indicated that integrating freight service is essential to recouping the investment.
Source: politico
