MEXICO CITY METRO

The 'Mexico City Metro' (formally: '''Sistema de Transporte Colectivo Metro' or 'STC Metro')'' provides metro service to the central and northern area of the Mexican Federal District and surrounding municipalities in the State of México. In 2004 the system served an average of 3.9 million passengers per day, the fifth highest ridership in the world.
The first Metro line with 16 stations was opened to the public in 1969. It has expanded since then in a series of fits and starts; it currently comprises eleven lines and 177 kilometres of passenger track. Trains feature rubber tires instead of traditional steel wheels, decreasing noise and making the system tolerant of Mexico City's unstable soils.
During rush hour, the trains are constantly serviced by unlicensed vendors selling pirate DVDs and music CDs, as well as large variety of other products. Some lines designate the first two cars of the train for women and children only, though this is only strictly enforced at rush hours.
The Metro has 175 stations, 24 of which serve two or more lines. It has 106 underground stations (the deepest of which are 35 metres below street surface); 53 surface stations and 16 elevated stations. Eleven stations are located in the State of Mexico, while the rest are within the limits of the Distrito Federal.

Contents

History

1st stage

Station logos

Fares and pay systems

Network

Line 1

Line 2

Line 3

Line 4

Line 5

Line 6

Line 7

Line 8

Line 9

Line A

Line B

Metrobús

Light rail

Additional notes

See also

References

External links

History

1st stage

The first stage of building took place between 1967 and 1972 and included the building of the Lines 1, 2 and 3. In the building of this stage participated somewhat in between 1,200 and 4,000 specialists and 48,000 workers, which allowed them to built at least one kilometer of metro per month, the highest building rate of a subway at any part of the world^[1].
Line 1 was built from the Zaragoza Station at the east of the city, to the Chapultepec Station, Line 2 from Tacuba Station at the west, to Tasqueña Station at the south and finally Line 3 from Tlatelolco Station at the north, to Hospital General Station, at the south.
The Metro started operation on September 4th, 1969 with 48 stations and a total length of 42.4 km.

Station logos

Each station is identified by a unique logo related to the name of the station or the area around it. This responds to the fact that at the time of building the first line the illiteracy rate was extremely high, so people would find it easier to guide themselves with a system based on colors and visual signs. The designs of the icons, as well as the typography, are a creation of Lance Wyman, who also designed the logotype for the 1968 Summer Olympic Games at Mexico City. The logos are not assigned at random, they are designated by making a study of the area they are in, so they are related to:

★ The reference places that are located around the stations (Salto del Agua);

★ The topology (Coyoacán) y

★ The history of the place (Pino Suárez)
The logos' background colors reflect those of the line the station serves. Stations serving two or more lines show the respective colors of each line in diagonal stripes, like Salto del Agua.

Fares and pay systems

As of 2005-2006, the Mexico City Metro is the cheapest rail system of the world -- a ticket to travel from one station to another costs MXN $2 (EUR 0.15 or USD 0.20 in 2006).
The Metro offers free service to the elderly and the physically impaired.
Tickets can be purchased at booths. Special cards, good for 150 trips, are also available for MXN $300 (around EUR 25 or USD 30 in 2007). When the amount of trips on the card are used up, the card can be recharged for as little as MXN $2 (one trip), up to a maximum of MXN $620 (around EUR 45.50 or USD 65.60 in 2007) for 310 trips.^[2]

Network

Mexico City Metro currently has 11 lines, numbered from 1 to 9 and the letters A and B. All lines, with the exception of Line A, operate with pneumatic traction. The total length of the network is 201.388 km and a total of 175 stations.
Of the 175 stations, 41 are commuting stations and 22 are terminus, in addition 11 are terminus stations as well as commuting stations. The metro is built three ways: underground, superficial and elevated, 106 stations are underground, 53 are superficial, and 16 elevated^[3].
For easier identification each line has a characteristic color assigned to it, so Line 1 has the color 'pink', Line 2 color 'blue', Line 3 is 'olive green', Line 4 is 'light blue', Line 5 is 'yellow', Line 6 is 'red', Line 7 is 'orange', Line 8 is 'green', Line 9 is 'brown', Línea A1 'purple' and Line B is 'silver'-'green'.
Commuting stations belong to two or more lines that cross at such point, an user can move between lines without having to leave the station or having to buy another ticket.

Line 1

Line 1 was the first to be built, the identifying color is pink and runs through the city from west to east.
The line is built under several avenues: Parque Lira, Pedro Antonio de los Santos, Circuito Interior, Avenida de los Insurgentes, Avenida Chapultepec, Arcos de Belén, Balderas, Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas, José María Izazaga, Isabel la Católica, Anillo de Circunvalación, Congreso de la Unión, Eduardo Molina, and Ignacio Zaragoza, it commutes with Line 7 and 9 at the Station Tacubaya, Line 3 at Balderas, Line 8 at Salto del Agua, Line 2 at Pino Suárez, Line 4 at Candelaria, Line B at San Lázaro and Lines 5, 9 and A at Pantitlán.

Line color	pink
Passenger railway length	16.654 km
Total railway length	18.828 km
Rolling stock	trains MP-68 made in France in 1968 trains NE-92 made in Spain in 1992 trains NM-83 made in Mexico between 1983 y 1991
Stations	20
Type of line	Predominantly underground, the exception is the terminal Observatorio
Direction	West-East, trough the city center
Started operations	September 4, 1969: from Chapultepec to Zaragoza April 11, 1970: from Chapultepec to Juanacatlán November 20, 1970: from Juanacatlán to Tacubaya June 10, 1971: from Tacubaya to Observatorio August 22, 1984: from Zaragoza to Pantitlán

Line 2

Line 2 is the second of the network, the color that identifies it is blue and runs from west to east and north to south, turning at the city center. It starts at the border of the city and the Estado de México and ends in the city south.
It commutes with Line 7 at Tacuba, Line 3 at Hidalgo, Line 8 at Bellas Artes, Line 1 at Pino Suárez and Lines 8 and 9 at Chabacano. At Tasqueña it links with the Mexico City Light Rail to Xochimilco. It used to be served by NC-82 and some NM-83 trains.
This line was temporarily served by a NM-02 train with landscapes and images of Mexico City.
This line has seen the worst accident in Mexico City history when on October 20, 1975 there was a crash between two trains at the Viaducto Station. One train was parked at the station picking up passengers when it was hit by another train that did not stop on time. 20 people were killed and several wounded. After that accident there were installed automatic traffic lights in all the lines.

Line color	blue
Passenger railway length	20.713 km
Total railway length	23.431 km
Rolling stock	45 NM-02 new trains made by Bombardier México in 2004
Stations	24
Type of line	From Tasqueña to San Antonio Abad, superficial From Pino Suárez to Panteones, underground. Cuatro Caminos is an underground terminal
Direction	Northwest-South, through the city center
Started operations	August 1, 1970: from Pino Suárez to Tasqueña (worked partially furing the FIFA World Cup that same year) September 14, 1970: from Pino Suárez to Tacuba August 22, 1984: from Tacuba to Cuatro Caminos

Line 3

Line 3 is the longest, its color is olive green and runs from north to south of the city covering almost all of it.
It is built under Avenida de los Insurgentes, Zoltan Kodaly, Zarco, Balderas, Cuauhtémoc, Universidad, Copilco and Delfín Madrigal. It commutes with Line 6 at Deportivo 18 de Marzo, Line 5 at La Raza, Line B at Guerrero, Line 2 at Hidalgo, Line 1 at Balderas and Line 9 at Centro Médico.

Line color	olive green
Passenger railway length	21.278 km
Total railway length	23.609 km
Stations	21
Type of line	Universidad is a superficial terminal. From Copilco to La Raza, underground. From Potrero to Indios Verdes, combines superficial platforms with underground passenger passages.
Direction	North-South, though the city center
Started operations	November 20, 1970: from Tlatelolco to Hospital General August 25, 1978: from Tlatelolco to La Raza December 1, 1979: from La Raza to Indios Verdes June 7, 1980: from Hospital General to Centro Médico August 25, 1980: from Centro Médico to Zapata August 30, 1983: from Zapata to Universidad

Line 4

Line 4 is the shortest, its color is aqua or light blue and runs from north to south. It is also the one with the least affluence in terms of passengers, that is why the STC introduced modified 6-wagon-trains. In the original blue print it was planned for this line to extend to the north all the way to Ecatepec, Mexico State.

Practically all the line is an elevated viaduct because the are where it is built has no tall buildings. It commutes with Lines 1 at Candelaria, Line 6 at Martín Carrera, Line 5 at Consulado, Line 8 at Santa Anita, Line 9 at Metro Jamaica and Line B at Morelos.

Line color	light blue
Passenger railway length	9.363 km
Total railway length	10.747 km
Rolling stock	Six-wagon trains built in Spain by C.A.F.
Stations	10
Type of line	8 stations in an elevated viaduct and 2 superficial ones
Direction	North-South, at the east of the city
Started operations	August 29, 1981: from Martín Carrera to Candelaria May 26, 1982: from Candelaria to Santa Anita

Line 5

Line 5 has as its color the color yellow and runs from the north to the east. This line usually had the NM73 trains but due to the introduction fo the NM02 trains in Line 2 now it is served bye NC82 Canadian trains made by Bombardier.

Line color	yellow
Passenger railway length	14.435 km
Total railway length	15.675 km
Stations	13
Typo of line	From Politécnico to La Raza, superficial with underground access. Misterios and Valle Gómez, underground From Consulado to Oceanía, superficial with underground access Terminal Aérea and Hangares, underground and Pantitlán is superficial.
Direction	North-East
Started operations	December 19, 1981: from Pantitlán to Consulado July 1, 1982: from Consulado to La Raza August 30, 1982: from La Raza to Politécnico

Line 6

Line 6's color is red and runs from west to east.

Line color	red
Passenger railway length	11.434 km
Total railway length	13.947 km
Rolling stock	due to the low volume of persons in the line, the STC introduced six-wagon trains
Stations	11
Type of line	El Rosario is a superficial terminal. From Tezozomoc to Martín Carrera, underground.
Direction	West-East, in the city north
Started operations	December 21, 1983: from El Rosario to Instituto del Petróleo July 8, 1986: from Instituto del Petróleo to Martín Carrera

Line 7

Line 7 is the deepest of all the system at a maximum depth of 36 meter under street level, its color is orange and runs from north to south. This line used MP68 trains and a small number of NM73, after the rehabilitation of some MP68. They kept circulating by this line although there was a slightly bigger number of NM79 and NM83 in this line. Today there are only retroadapted NM73 and NM83 models and some trains from the first model due to the introduction of the NM02 in the Line 2.

Line color	orange
Passenger railway length	17.011 km
Total railway length	18.784 km
Stations	14
Type of line	El Rosario is a superficial terminal. From Aquiles Serdán to Barranca del Muerto, underground.
Direction	North-South, at the city west
Started operations	December 20, 1984: from Tacuba to Auditorio August 22, 1985: from Auditorio to Tacubaya December 19, 1985: from Tacubaya to Barranca December 29, 1988: from Tacuba to El Rosario

Line 8

Line 8 was the next to last route of the network to be opened, which happened on July 20, 1994 by the then President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and the regent of the city, Manuel Aguilera Gómez. This line was planned to be built before but the plans were suspended due to redevelopment of the plans to build it. Its color is green and runs from the city center to the southeast.

According to the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo, the volume of people moved in this line was 117,386,342 persons in 2006.

Line color	green
Passenger railway length	16.679 km
Total railway length:	20.078 km
Stations	19
Direction	Center-Southeast
Started operations	July 20, 1994

Line 9

Line 9's color is brown and runs from west to east. The trains of this line is made up from MP68 trains rehabilitated with fans and intelligent control systems and some NM79.

Line color	brown
Passenger railway length	13.033 km
Total railway length	15.375 km
Station	12
Direction	West-East, through the city center
Started operations	August 26, 1987: from Pantitlán to Centro Médico August 29, 1988: from Centro Médico to Tacubaya

Line A

Line A was built differently from the other 10 lines, with more conventional light rail vehicles without rubber tires, and using an overhead electrical supply instead of a third rail. It runs mostly aboveground at grade in the centre of a large avenue, and is grade-separated from vehicle traffic. Its color is purple and runs from east to far east of the city.

Line color	purple
Passenger railway length	14.893 km
Total railway length	23.722 km
Rolling stock	FM86 trains, made in Mexico in 1986; FM95A, made in Mexico in 1998 and 1999.
Stations	10
Direction	East-Far East
Started operations	August 12, 1991: From Pantitlán to La Paz

Line B

Line B's color is gray and green, which has led to some criticisms because line 8 is also green and leads some to confuse it with Line B, therefore it should be gray only. It runs from the city center to the far northeast. All the trains are MP68 modified and equipped with GPS and intelligent control system, the trains in this line were the leftovers from Line 1 that were rehabilitated by ''Bombardier-Concarril''. Also, all the MP68 that were in Line 7 were placed in Line B.

Line color	green over silver.
Passenger railway length	20.278 km
Total railway length	23.722 km
Stations	21
Direction	City Center-Far Northeast
Started operations	December 15, 1999: from Buenavista to Villa de Aragón November 30, 2000: from Villa de Aragón to Ciudad Azteca

Metrobús

Main articles: Mexico City Metrobús

The line of service of the express bus Metrobús Insurgentes (built in 2005) it is not a part of the STC-Metro network, but its north terminal is located at Indios Verdes Station and links to other stations all along its 20 km journey to the south.

Light rail

Main articles: Xochimilco Light Rail

The tram line from Xochimilco to Tasqueña is not formally part of the STC-Metro network; it links with Line 2 at Tasqueña Station, but it is necessary to buy a different ticket.

Additional notes

The "Los Hombres del Metro" book mentions that it is planned the construction of the Line 12, in the book there is the map where it can be seen that this line will depart from Mixcoac and the Atlalilco and Constitución de 1917 stations of Line 8 will become part of Line 12. It also shows that Line 8 will finish at Acoxpa and it will not start at Garibaldi, supposedly it will start at Indios Verdes and it will run through Villa-Basílica and Misterios until reaching Garibaldi. In addition the map shows that Line 7 will finish at San Jerónimo. It has not been officially confirmed if Line 12 will be built and it is not known if it will start at Mixcoac, neither if it will take the two Line 8 stations, the plans may change. Line 7 is in the same situation, it is not known if it will finish at San Jerónimo, nor the train models that are to be used in Line 12, although it is speculated that its color may be black.

See also

★ List of Mexico City metro stations – itemisation of lines and stations, together with detailed information on inauguration dates and distances, etc.

★ List of rapid transit systems

★ Xochimilco Light Rail – light rail line that connects with the Metro network

★ Metrobús – bus rapid transit line

★ Rubber-tyred metro

★ Ferrocarril Suburbano de la Zona Metropolitana de México

★ Pesero

References

1. First Building Stage ''Official Site of the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo-Metro''.
2. Rechargable Card ''Official Site of the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo-Metro''.
3. Operation Numbers ''Official Site of the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo-Metro''

External links

★ Mexico City Metro (official)

★ Map of the whole network in Google Earth You need to have Google Earth installed to be able to open this file.