After four years of work, Mexico has completed the 1,540km Tren Maya railway, with recently elected president Claudia Sheinbaum inaugurating the final section on Monday.
She opened the seventh and final section of track, which runs 287km between Escárcega and Chetumal.
She said Mexico was the only country in the world that could have built a line of this length in only four years.
It was originally meant to take two years, notes the Mexico News Daily.
Work started in June 2020, during President López Obrador’s term in office, and was to have been finished by October 2022.
This was pushed back more than two years by a variety of issues, including a number of court cases brought by environmental groups.
Among the objections raised by protesters was the impact on wildlife such as jaguars, and the decision to run part of the system on diesel to reduce cost. The route of the track was modified several times to take into account the concerns of environmentalists.
The railroad runs in a circuit around the Yucatán Peninsula, and connects destinations and attractions across five Mexican states: Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo.
Altogether, it has 34 stations and provides access to archaeological sites formerly occupied by the Maya people.
The government has not released figures on how much the project cost, but independent estimates have put the price at between $20bn and $25bn – far above the initial estimate of $7bn.
It will be paid for by a tourist tax and funds diverted from other cultural projects.
The rolling stock for the system was supplied by a consortium led by French train-maker Alstom.
A large number of construction companies were involved in building the system, including Mota-Engil of Portugal, China Communications, Acciona and FCC Construcción of Spain, and local companies Carso Infraestructura, Construcciones Urales, Gami Ingeniería and conglomerate Grupo México.
The total number of passengers who rode the Maya Train in the past year was 603,000, of which only 6% were foreign tourists.
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