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The Maya Train, or Tren Maya, is a brand new mode of transportation in Mexico that covers pretty much the entire Yucatan Peninsula and even stretches to Palenque in Chiapas. For those that aren’t Mexican geography geeks, the new train connects Cancun to much of the surrounding area.
It debuted on December 16, 2023, with only the Campeche to Cancun line running (featuring stops in Merida and Chichen Itza among others), with full service beginning in March 2024.
I took the train from Cancun to Merida on one of its first few days of operation. Overall, it’s great. It costs about the same as the bus and the journey lasts just as long, so you don’t really save any time or money, but it’s a new, smooth, comfortable ride that never has you sitting in traffic or hitting any bumps in the road.
Let’s get into the details of how to book tickets and how to get to the terminal.
Have you tried mezcal? If you're a bit pretentious about your alcohol tastes (I hate to admit it, but I am), you will probably prefer mezcal to tequila. Don't be swayed by the shitty mezcal that you will be offered in and around Cancun. You'll know when you get the good stuff. Here's my blog on everything you need to know about mezcal.
How to book tickets for the Tren Maya (Maya Train)
You want to book your tickets in advance. When I took the train from Cancun to Merida, I met a couple who arrived hoping to buy tickets for the 11am train. Unfortunately, the tickets were all sold out. I’m not really sure what they ended up doing because I continued past the gates while they looked on from the other side.
I booked my ticket two days prior and had no issues. I don’t think you have to book far in advance, but if your hope is to just show up to the station and grab a ticket (which is usually my travel style), you might want to reconsider.
On the main page of the Maya Train website, you should see a button that says “Compra tu boleto aquí” (Buy your ticket here). Clicking that will take you to this page where you can buy your tickets directly.
There are a few departures each day, so hopefully one of them will line up with your travel itinerary.
Is it safe to travel Mexico? The short answer is yes just don't be stupid. The long answer is here.
How to get to the Maya Train station in Cancun
The Maya Train station in Cancun is right beside the airport. This is great news if you arrive in Cancun at 10am and have a 12pm train to Tulum, for example. All you have to do then is transfer terminals. However, it isn’t a comfortable walking distance.
If you are coming from Cancun city, you either have to take a taxi or Uber or Didi directly to the train station, which is the easiest albeit most expensive option, take a bus directly to the train station, or first to the airport and then take the free shuttle from the airport to the train station.
Getting a bus to the airport or to the train station can be done from the ADO Cancun bus terminal that straddles Avenida Uxmal and Avenida Tulum. Buses leave for the airport roughly every 30 minutes. You can buy tickets in advance online from the official ADO website, or you can just show up at the terminal and buy a ticket for the next bus. Tickets may sell out, however, and time spent waiting in line to buy a ticket could mean you miss the next departure.
If you need to go to the airport first, the Cancun Airport has 4 terminals, and the ADO bus makes stops at each one before heading back to Cancun. In reality, I’m not sure if it matters which terminal you get off at. The train station shuttle is a huge green bus that says Tren Maya on the side of it in unmissable letters and the bus does a continuous lap hitting each terminal before going to the train station. I got off at the first terminal we arrived at and went to the shuttle bus waiting area. Usually, the shuttle will come every 25 minutes or so. And it will take another 15 minutes to get to the train station once you get on the shuttle. Plan accordingly.
The shuttle buses that go between terminals at the Cancun airport, as well as the one that goes to the Maya Train station are completely free.
Taxi drivers and van drivers may try to convince you that the official shuttle bus is not going to arrive for another hour or that it isn’t working today, and offer to take you to the station so that you don’t miss your train. Don’t believe these guys. They unfortunately lie to travelers to try to convince them to pay for a ride. If you are short on time, then yes maybe it will be necessary to use their services. But if you have time, the shuttle bus will arrive within 25 minutes so don’t panic. You’ll see a group of people waiting by the shuttle pick-up spot.
Transferring terminals at the Cancun Airport can be a nightmare. If you want to know how to do it for free, read my blog post on navigating the Cancun Airport.
What is the Maya Train Route?
The Maya Train pretty much connects every popular tourist destination in southeastern Mexico. The route map includes stops in the tourist megalith of Cancun, along with the beach towns of Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Bacalar, and Campeche. You can make your way into the interior to Mayan ruins destinations like Chichen Itza, Valladolid, and Merida or head south into the undulating jungle world of Palenque.
It connects all of the major stops in the Yucatan region making it extremely easy for tourists to travel around the region during their holiday.
Below is a map of the stops that Maya Train makes.
How early do you have to arrive for the Maya Train?
There isn’t an extensive check-in process for the train. If you already have your tickets, just bring your ID with you and arrive at the terminal 15 minutes before departure and you should be fine.
If you don’t have tickets, I’d suggest buying them online before you get to the terminal because they might sell out. Check the section above for how to do that.
How expensive is the Maya Train from Cancun?
It depends how far you are going to travel. I went from Cancun to Merida and it cost about 730 pesos ($43). It’s about the same price as the bus and takes about the same amount of time to reach your destination.
I will say that the train is a more comfortable ride than the bus, however. You can get up and walk around, there is drink and food service on the train, and the train is new and in excellent condition.
While Mexican buses are generally very comfortable as well, they aren’t as easy to get up and walk around and you won’t be able to buy food or drink while on the bus. Also, if you’re unlucky like I was, the seat behind you might stink of stale urine — an unpleasant scent on a hot day with windows that don’t open.
Have you thought about travelling to South America as well? Want some tips to get your planning session started? Have a look at my South America guide here.
Conclusion
Given the choice, I’ll go for the train every time. For short distances in the Yucatan, you can usually find colectivos or shuttle vans that run your route very frequently and very cheaply. But for longer distances, I’ll take the train every time. It’s a smooth, comfortable ride and an awesome new addition to the tourist-heavy zone that is the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico.
Wanna know a little bit about my favourite Mexican city to visit? Check out my blog on Guadalajara.
I can’t seem to get tickets on the website. Looking to go from Cancun Airport to Tulum. Can you let me know how much a ticket is? Thank you Is there an English version of the site?
Hi Gary,
This is the English version: https://reservas.ventaboletostrenmaya.com.mx/
Unfortunately, it looks like the opening of the Tulum portion of the route has been pushed back to at least September. The construction was inflicting damage on cenotes in the region. Hopefully things will be up and running soon and they are able to protect the cenotes
I’m trying to figure out how one would get on and off the train taking it from Palenque to Cancun? I see “long distance accommodations” offered but no other info. Does one get off – do their thing, and wait for the next train to continue to Cancun or ?
The train makes many stops on the way from Palenque to Cancun, though it only stops for a few minutes at each location. If you want to get off the train for a few hours or days, you would have to book two separate tickets. One from Palenque to you desired stop, and then another ticket from that stop to Cancun.
Hope that helps!
Is there a way I could get a picture of the route for the train with the city names where it stops etc so we can plan a trip. We want to stay few days in some areas
Hi Mary. Yes you can find a map on this page if you scroll up a bit 🙂 Happy travels
It’s impossible to book a ticket for this train. Nowhere, can you find where the train station even is for instance, in Playa Cancun or even Valladolid. No one has any idea what’s going on about it and here it is at the end of March 2024. I’ve never seen anything more poorly launched And executed. It’s ridiculous.
Im with you. I still can’t find anything to book a ticket.
You can book through the official website here: https://reservas.ventaboletostrenmaya.com.mx/
Happy travels!
I’ve tried that website recently several times and you start out fine, but when you press “continue / next” nothing goes further!
I’m not sure exactly where you are getting stuck but perhaps it’s this:
After inputting the date and route you want, and it shows the train schedule, you have to click on and expand that time table to select the fare class that you want. There are multiple options from Mexican tourist to international tourist to premium class.
I just tried the website and everything worked fine for me. Good luck!
I’ve tried that website several times in the past few days, and it only goes so far and doesn’t work any further to finish up!