00:00It promised development to Mexico's impoverished south, but this 1,000-mile rail project has left a trail of disappointment.
00:09Two years after hitting the tracks, the $25 billion Mayan train is struggling.
00:15Ticket sales cover only a fraction of operating costs, and hotels built along the route sit mostly empty.
00:22Despite government promises, local communities near the line in the Quintana Roo state say they have seen little benefit.
00:29At Mary Sandra Perez's home, power lines run directly overhead, but she still relies on rented solar panels and a
00:37generator.
00:40We thought electricity would come, we thought the streets would be improved, and that they would support us with water
00:48and everything else, but that did not happen.
00:51No.
00:52Former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador promoted the loop route to connect cities and archaeological sites through the Yucatan Peninsula.
01:01Historically marginalized indigenous Maya communities were promised improved infrastructure and increased tourism, but that is yet to materialize, government data
01:10shows.
01:11Mayan activist Eliseo Ek says the project is flawed.
01:18If a project truly intended to benefit communities, the station would not be 15 to 20 kilometers from the community.
01:26It would be right next to it, so that everyone could really use that means of transport.
01:36Chronic water shortages in towns on the line were meant to be addressed with the opening of a new aqueduct.
01:42Around 70 percent of the population of Campeche State have access to running water, data shows.
01:50Farmer Nicolás Moreno Jiménez still brings water by car from another community.
01:58He believes the aqueduct is being pumped, but they are giving it to hotel and restaurant owners.
02:10Meanwhile, the train itself has struggled to attract the hoped-for interest.
02:14Lopez Obrador projected the train would transport three million people a year once finished, a figure since slashed to 1
02:21.2 million.
02:22Government data reviewed by Reuters shows government-run hotels along the line average monthly occupancy rates between 5 and 24
02:30percent most of last year.
02:32Current Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has defended the line as a success.
02:37She said the project had helped regional development, but added it's not something that happens overnight.
02:43Just don't know if he could just be quiet.
02:44See you tonight!
02:44Probable Here happens a little bit more likely.
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