Environmental groups have released images showing significant affectations to cenotes and caves in the Yucatan peninsula caused by the construction of the Mayan tourist train.
The photographs show enormous steel piles that have been drilled deep into underground caverns of the Aktun T’uyul aquifer system, which extends under a section of the line between Playa del Carmen to Tulum and is the major source of drinking water for the Yucatan peninsula. Experts say these piles will eventually corrode and seriously affect the ecosystem, altering the quality of the crystalline water and destroying the area’s fragile ancient heritage.
The 25-meter deep columns support an elevated section of the train line (tramo 5 sur) that runs above this cavernous zone that is becoming increasingly popular for ecological tourism. It is often referred to as “the Mecca of cave diving” by speleologists, who say the Tren Maya is destroying stalagmites and stalactites that are almost one million years old.
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