The Tren Maya Clarifies Train Fares for Some Residents
Ever since the Tren Maya started operations, things have been rolled out rather piecemeal. For example, when online ticket sales started, only tourists could buy them. This meant for a period of time, all locals had to go to the stations to buy tickets. This made it difficult for locals to make an extra trip to the train station with all the Ids to buy tickets. Eventually the Tren Maya switched platforms to buy tickets online which offered all the fares that they have.
It has been a year since the official start of the Tren Maya, and policies are still being flushed out and questions are gradually being answered. One question that has been on many people minds if the official price for tickets of legal residents of Mexico that are visa temporary or visa permanent holders. Many have paid differing prices for tickets depending on the person working at the station. We have wanted to get an official answer from the Tren Maya, and we have finally gotten one.
How the Tren Maya Charges for Tickets
The Tren Maya offers 4 tiers of tickets for riders. There is a special price for elderly with Inapam cards, Nationals of Mexico, locals that live in the 5 states the train runs through, and international tourists. These 4 tiers are also offered in Premier Class (first class) or Tourist class (2nd class). This is a fairly common way of charging tickets that makes it fair for different groups of people.
Around the world there are different pricing for transit. Some countries offer free public transportation for residents and tourist like Luxemburg. or like Malta that offers free public transport for residents, and Germany offers discounts for residents. Many other transportation systems offer discounts for students, children or the elderly. So, it is fairly common to have tiered pricing and the idea to make it an incentive to take mass transportation by affordability is a good one.
Confusing Policies of the Tren Maya
As we have commented many times before, official communication of the Tren Maya has been rather limited to non-existent. Much of the social media and contacts for the Tren Maya online have been unresponsive. It has taken us about one year to get a response from the Tren Maya after sending multiple emails, commenting on posts, calls, and WhatsApp messages. Because there have not been clarifications to policies, there has been confusion to what exactly they are. With different wording on the app, website and printed tickets, it has left open to interpretation of what the official policies are.
In the Tren Maya stations when been buying tickets, you often get a different response depending on where you are or the person working. While service in the stations has been fairly good, there has been no standard policies and the person behind the desk is not the person that sets the official policies.
Who pays local price for the Tren Maya?
One of the policies of ticket prices that has been in question is what price to residents of the 5 states pay if they are residential visa or permanent visa holders. These are legal residents of Mexico and within the 5 states that the train passes, there are tens of thousands of these residents. Since most of the Tren Maya’s language has said that only residents of the 5 states with INE identification (Mexican voter id) may get the local price, this left residents with a residential vias in the dark. Since visa holders can only get an INE if they become a citizen or dual citizen, and many are not pursuing this, the question remains what price tier do they pay?
At some Tren Maya stations these residents have been offered the National Tourist price since they are legal residents of Mexico, but often staff has said that you need local ID for the local price. While residential visas have the office where they are issued, and many of these residents have drivers’ licenses for one of the five states that the train passes, this was not considered local ID.
For many that are visa holders, it is a little confusing that at all archelogy sites in the country are free for nationals and residents on Sundays. Many of the temporary and permanent visa holders have used this discount to visit sites. In some areas a driver’s license is enough to get you a local discount at a restaurant or attraction. So, while many local residents with visas are recognized by some branches of government and other institutions as local residents, it is technically up to each institution and business to accept certain identifications. So, it is not unheard of to be considered local and get the same prices as locals in many cases with residential vias.
Who are these visa holders?
Visa holders get legal residency based on several qualifications; one is based on income requirements. The other way to get a residential visa is by family connection. Some of these residents have been in Mexico for 5, 10, 15, or more years. Some have retired to the area and others are residents working in Mexico and getting paid local wages.
So, What Does the Tren Maya Charge for Residential Visa Holders?
We recently have been able to communicate via email with the Tren Maya to get an official answer. After 4 emails and a lot of asking for clarification, this is their response.
So, there you have it. Temporary and permanent visa holders are expected to pay international fares. What is the difference in ticket prices? For example, from Cancun Airport to Merida a local resident price is 489 pesos. The international tourist fare is 977.50 pesos or about double to the price.
What about elderly discount for residential visa holders (Inapam)?
Well, these residents are also blocked from getting any discount. Here is the official response from the Tren Maya visa email:
“It’s a pleasure to assist you. Senior rates are only available for travelers showing Mexican ID Card (INE) and their respective Senior Citizen ID Card (INAPAM).”
Now that the Tren Maya excludes these residents from local and national ticket prices, if you are a visa holder, will this affect how much you take the Tren Maya?
We imagine that this will reduce the usage or rather eliminate usage of the Tren Maya for most residential visa holders. Why? Many of these residents live on fixed retirement incomes or are working in Mexico and living on a local wage. Everyone knows that the train is not as efficient or price competitive to taking the buses for the same routes. For example, the Cancun Airport to Merida by ADO bus is about 100 pesos less on the bus to Merida and it is even cheaper since you do not have to connect with a bus from the Tren Maya Station into the center of Merida. Or even cheaper is the bus from Cancun to Merida that is about 1/2 the price of the Tren Maya.
Is the Tren Maya going to make more money charging International Tourist prices for these residents and elderly travelers? Probably not, not only will these people opt for other transportation, but these residents will also probably not be likely take guests and other locals on the train. People with residential visas in general do not consider themselves tourists nor do they visit tourist parks and other attractions in part because they are priced for tourists.
Conclusion
The Tren Maya is responsible for setting its policies and this is their prerogative. It seems counterproductive to set international tourist prices for legal residents of Mexico and even elderly with an Inapam card (but not INE). But that is what the official communication is with the Tren Maya.
The Tren Maya has a goal of over 8000 riders daily. Currently it is only a small fraction of that. Part of the reason is because the entire loop is not done yet and other reasons are because the Tren Maya is not an efficient and cost-effective way for most people to get around. Let’s see if this policy gets tweaked in the future like their luggage policy.
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Dang. We successfully took the train round-trip Merida to Cancun this summer and got the low fare with our Permanent Resident and INAPAM cards. We’ve bought our discount tickets to Cancun for this Friday; will show those same cards (and our new Yucatan drivers licenses) and see what happens. (Inconsistent application of rules is certainly not unheard of around here.)
YEs, we have gotten used to the different applications of rules here. We have paid different fares for the Tren Maya. But taking the guessing out of wither they will accept a ticket bought online does take some stress out of traveling on the train. Some have been stopped and asked to buy a whole new ticket.