Parts of Mexico's remote southern jungles have barely changed since the time of the ancient Maya.
In the eyes of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a railway his government is building - known as the Tren Maya - will bring modern connectivity to areas for generations deprived of significant economic benefits.
The 1,470 km of rail are set to carry diesel and electric trains through the Yucatan Peninsula and connect Mexico's top tourist destination Cancun to the ancient Mayan temples of Chichen Itza and Palenque. In December, United Nations experts warned the railway's status as a national security project allowed the government to side-step usual environmental safeguards, and called on the government to protect the environment in line with global standards.
If built badly, the railway risks breaking through the fragile ground, including into yet-to-be explored caves below, says Emiliano Monroy-Rios, a Mexican geochemist with Northwestern University who has extensively studied the area's caves and cenotes. Dozens of scientists disagree, writing in open letters that the assessments are riddled with problems, including outdated data, the omission of recently discovered caves and a lack of input from local hydrology experts.
"I guess their conclusions were pre-formatted," Monroy-Rios said. "They want to do it fast and that's part of the problem. There’s no time for the proper exploration.” Inecol, Mexico’s ecology institute which produced the reports, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. A spokesman for Lopez Obrador did not respond to a request for comment.Despite the concerns about the railway, it has the support of many in villages that for decades have felt largely forgotten in national development plans.
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