Access to Inca in Peru’s Andes Restored After Dispute Over New E-Train Ticketing System
The Peruvian government has reopened the rail line to Machu Picchu, following an agreement reached to end more than a week of protests that had blocked access to the famous Inca site and left tourists stranded.
PeruRail said in a statement that partial service had restarted on Wednesday and that normal service would return on Thursday from the town of Cusco to Aguas Calientes, a town near the archaeological site.
Protests began late last week against a new centralized ticketing system that prevents many tourists from reaching the ancient ruins of the Andes.
Protesters said they were concerned that the new e-ticketing platform would harm local businesses by shifting the management of ticketing to a personal corporation authorized through the Ministry of Culture.
The blockade had deserted the streets, hotels and restaurants around Peru’s top tourist attraction.
“It feels like the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, you hardly see anyone,” said Roger Monzón, a worker at the Inkas Land Hotel in the Machu Picchu neighborhood, an 18-room building that has recently hosted two Portuguese tourists.
The two sides signed an agreement on Wednesday that will see a transition period to the new platform.
“We want to move forward to reactivate our economy,” Peruvian Culture Minister Leslie Urteaga told local radio.
Agencies responsible for preserving the UNESCO World Heritage site have warned of overcrowding and over-selling tickets, prompting the government to look for new tactics to control visitor numbers as it recovers from the Covid pandemic.