| Mexico City Metro | |
|---|---|
| Info | |
| Locale | Mexico City |
| Transit type | Rapid transit |
| Number of lines | 11 (1 under construction) |
| Number of stations | 175 (195 when line 12 is finished) |
| Daily ridership | 3.86 million (average) |
| Annual ridership | 1.41 billion (2010) |
| Website | www.metro.df.gob.mx |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | September 4, 1969 |
| Operator(s) | Sistema de Transporte Colectivo (STC) |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | Rubber-tyred metro (10 lines) and Standard gauge (1 line, 2 when line 12 is finished) |
The Mexico City Metro (in Spanish, Metro de la Ciudad de México), officially called Sistema de Transporte Colectivo, is a metro system that serves the metropolitan area of Mexico City (this includes some municipalities in Mexico State). It is the second largest metro system in North America after the New York City Subway, and in 2008 the system served 1.467 billion passengers, placing it as the eighth highest ridership in the world.[1]
The first Metro line had 16 stations, and opened to the public in 1969. The system has expanded since then in a series of fits and starts. As of 2010, the system comprises eleven lines and 451 kilometres (280 mi) of passenger track. Ten of the lines are rubber-tyred metro; instead of traditional steel wheels, they have rubber tires (also called pneumatic traction), which are quieter and cope better with Mexico City's unstable soils.
The STC metro system has 163 stations, 24 of which serve two or more lines (correspondencias or transfer stations). It has 106 underground stations (the deepest of which are 35 metres below street level); 53 surface stations and 16 elevated stations.
At the end of 2007, Mexican Federal District government announced the construction of a new metro line: line 12 will run towards the southeastern part of the city, connecting with lines 7, 3, 2 and 8 respectively.
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By the second half of the twentieth century, Mexico City had serious public transport problems, with congested main roads and highways, especially in the downtown zone, where 40 percent of the daily trips in the city were concentrated. In this area, 65 of the 91 lines of bus and electric transport circulated. With four thousand units in addition to 150,000 personal automobiles peak hours, the traffic speed was less than walking pace.
The principal promoter of the construction of Mexico City Metro was engineer Bernardo Quintana, who was in charge of the construction company Ingenieros Civiles y Asociados (Spanish for "Civil Engineers and Associates"). He carried out a series of studies that resulted in a draft plan and ultimately led to the construction of the Mexico City Metro. This plan was shown to different authorities of Mexico City but it was not made official until April 29, 1967, when the Government Gazzette (Spanish for "Diario Oficial de la Federación", roughly translated as "Official Journal of the Federation") published the presidential decree that created a public decentralized organism, the "Sistema de Transporte Colectivo" with the proposal to build, operate and run a rapid transit of subterranean course for the public transport of Mexico City.
Months later on June 19, 1967, in the crossroad of Chapultepec Avenue with Bucareli Street, the inauguration ceremony for the Mexico City Metro took place. Two years later on September 4, 1969, an orange train made the inaugural trip between Zaragoza Station and Insurgentes Station.
The first stage of construction took place between 1967 and 1972 with Lines 1, 2 and 3. This stage involved engineers, geologists, mechanics, civil engineers, chemists, hydraulic and sanitation workers, electricians, archaeologists, and biologists; specialists in ventilation, statistics, computation, and in traffic and transit; accountants, economists, lawyers, workers and laborers. Between 1,200 and 4,000 specialists and 48,000 workers participated, building at least one kilometer of metro per month, the fastest rate of construction ever for a subway.
During this stage of construction workers uncovered two archaeological ruins, one Aztec idol, and the bones of a mammoth (under exhibit in Talismán Station).[2]
Line 1 was built from the Zaragoza Station in the east to the Chapultepec Station; Line 2 from Tacuba Station in the west to Tasqueña Station in the south; and Line 3 from Tlatelolco Station in the north to Hospital General Station in the south.
The Metro began operation on September 4, 1969 with 48 stations and a total length of 42.4 kilometres (26.3 mi).
The second stage began with the creation of the "Comisión Ejecutiva del Metro" (Executive Technical Commission of Mexico City Metro), the commission in charge of extending the Mexico City Metro in the metropolitan area. This stage took place between 1977 and 1982.
The stage began with the extension of Line 3 towards the north from Tlatelolco Station to La Raza Station and towards the south from Hospital General Station to Zapata Station. It also began the construction of Line 4 from Martín Carrera Station to Santa Anita Station and Line 5 from Pantitlán Station to Politécnico Station.
Line 4 was built as an elevated track, owing to the lower density of big buildings. The average height of this elevated track is 30 metres (98 ft).
This construction stage took place from the beginning of 1983 through the end of 1985. Lines 1, 2 and 3 were extended and new lines 6 and 7 were built. The length of the network increased by 35.2 kilometres (21.9 mi) and the number of stations increased by 105.
Line 3 was extended from Zapata Station to Universidad Station, and was inaugurated on August 30, 1983. Line 1 was extended from Zaragoza Station to Pantitlán Station, and Line 2 from Tacuba Station to Cuatro Caminos Station between the limit with State of Mexico but still in the metropolitan area of Mexico City. These two last extensions were both inaugurated on August 22, 1984.
Line 6 was built from El Rosario Station to Instituto del Petróleo Station with underground and above-ground sections. Line 7 was built from Tacuba Station to Barranca del Muerto Station and runs on the bottom of the Sierra de las Cruces mountain range that surrounds Mexico's valley by its west side, outside of the ancient lake zone; this made possible Line 7 to be built as a deep-tunnel.
On the morning of September 19, 1985, at almost the end of the third stage, an earthquake struck Mexico City at 7:19 am (local time), with a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter Scale. The earthquake caused several buildings such as old houses and hotels and even a Televisa television office to collapse. Many buildings as well as streets were left with major damage making the transportation on the ground difficult, but the metro was not damaged because a rectangular structure was used instead of arches, making it resistant to earthquakes, thus giving the people a safe means of transportation in a time of crisis.
This stage began in 1986 and ended in 1987. It began with the extensions of Line 6 from Instituto del Petróleo Station to Martín Carrera Station and Line 7 from Tacuba Station to El Rosario Station, and with the construction of line 9 from Pantitlán Station to Tacubaya Station. On Line 9 a circular deep-tunnel and an elevated track were used.
This stage began in 1988 and was completed in 1994.
This stage began the first extension of the metro to the State of Mexico with the name Line A from Pantitlán Station to La Paz Station. This line was built almost entirely above ground, and to reduce the cost of maintenance, steel railway tracks and overhead lines were used instead of pneumatic traction.
The draft for Line 8 planned a connection in Zócalo Station the very center of the city, but it was cancelled because this could have damaged the colonial buildings and the Aztec ruins, so it was replanned and now it runs from Garibaldi Station, which is still downtown, to Constitucion de 1917 Station in the southeast of the city. The construction of Line 8 began in 1988 and was completed in 1994.
With this, the length of the network increased 37.1 kilometres (23.1 mi), adding two lines and 29 more stations, giving the metro network at that point a total of 178.1 kilometres (110.7 mi), 154 stations and 10 lines.
This stage began at the end of 1993 with the studies for Line B. Construction began in October 1994 of the subterranean track between Buenavista Station (named after the Buenavista train station) and Garibaldi Station. In December 1997 the Mexican Federal District government had 178 kilometres (111 mi) of Metro network in operation and the extension of Line B. In October 1994 construction began on the subterranean section from Buenavista to Ecatepec in the neighboring state of Mexico but still forms part of the city. With a global advance of 49% it was completed in 2000.
This stage is divided in two parts. Part one started in 2008 and was planned for completion in late 2009 with the creation of the future Line 12 from Tláhuac Station to the future Axomulco Station and the aggregation of this station to Line 8. Part two, along with the whole new line was planned to be completed in 2010.
The book "Los Hombres del Metro" describes plans for the construction of Line 12, which will depart from Mixcoac and the Atlalilco and Constitución de 1917 stations of Line 8 will become part of Line 12. A map in the book 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. The only plan that has been officially confirmed by now is Line 12 which will be built starting June 2008 and it will start at Mixcoac station leading all the way to Tláhuac, a zone that has little public transportation far in the south/east of the City. Neither the plans of Line 8 nor the plans of Line 7 have been confirmed by the Mexico City Government.
According to the official web site of the Mexico City Metro, construction of Line 12 started in 2008 and the first part of it is to be ended in 2011 (giving service from Tlahuac to Atlalilco), while the whole line will be finished in 2012. The line will run from Mixcoac to Tláhuac, with 23 stations, 4 of them linking with another lines, and with the Mexico City Metrobús.
Each station is identified by a minimalist logo related to the name of the station or the area around it. This is because, at the time of the first line's opening, the illiteracy rate was extremely high, so people found it easier to guide themselves with a system based on colors and visual signs. The design of the icons and 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; rather, they are designated by considering the surrounding area, such as:
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, as in Salto del Agua. This system was adopted for the Guadalajara and Monterrey metros, and recently for the 2005, 2009 and 2011 Mexico City Metrobús. Although logos are no longer necessary due to literacy being now widespread, their usage stuck, and the use of iconography as an illustration for public transportation remains largely a Mexican feature.[3]
Metro Auditorio is a Mexico City Metro station located in line 7. It is one of the main metro gateways (along with Metro Polanco) to the chic and business-related neighbourhood, Polanco. The entrances to the station are on Paseo de la Reforma, one of the main streets in the whole city.
Its symbol depicts the façade of the Auditorio Nacional National Auditorium, which is just above the station. This auditorium is one of the main venues for concerts, shows and entertainment in the city, so almost every weekend night, this station is used by the attendees of the events.
This station is also frequently used by tourists because of its vicinity with many landmarks of the city, such as Chapultepec. Outside the station, just in front of the Auditorio Nacional, is the main station of the Turibus, a double deck bus that runs a touristic route that goes from Chapultepec Park to the Historic Center along Reforma.
During weekdays, this station is also one of the busiest ones of the network because it is an entrance to the business, office and financial area in Polanco. Outside the station there is also one of the main microbus stops in the area; these microbuses transport people coming from the metro to other business and commercial zones in the city like northern Polanco, Palmas, Santa Fe, Lomas de Chapultepec and Satélite.
During the rush hour, due to the large mass of people taking these buses outside the metro station and to the poor infrastructure of the microbus stops, heavy traffic is originated in this part of Paseo de la Reforma. Criticism has also been made to the layout of this metro station (among others of Line 7) because the heavy flows of people are not well managed; during the rush hours, flows of people walking in different directions often face each other causing a decrease in the speed of the flow. Another problem are the bottlenecks originated in bridges, narrow tunnels, electric and normal stairs due to low volume capacity and the lack of culture of using left side for fast travelers and right side for slower ones.
There are two main entrances to the station: one in the west sidewalk of the previously mentioned avenue and other in a small plaza between Avenida Revolución, Avenida Patriotismo, Eje 7 Sur Extremadura and Calle Empresa. The station logo depicts a snake because Mixcoac means for "Nest of Cloudy Serpents"
Until 2009, a ticket to travel from one station to any other cost MXN $2 (€ 0.10, or US$ 0.15 in 2009), making Mexico City Metro one of the cheapest rail systems in the world.[4] In January 2010 the price increased to 3 pesos (€ 0.15, or US$ 0.24).
The Metro offers free service to the elderly, the physically impaired, and children under the age of 5 (accompanied by an adult).
Tickets can be purchased at booths. Rechargeable cards are also available for an initial cost of MXN 10. The card can be recharged at the ticket counter in any metro station (or at machines in some metro stations) to a minimum of MXN 3 up to a maximum of MXN 620 (around € 36.75, or US$ 50 in 2010) for 310 trips.[5]
The express bus service Metrobús Insurgentes (built in 2005) is not part of the STC (Metro) network, but line 1's north terminal is located at Indios Verdes Station, line 2's west terminal is located at Tacubaya Station, line 3's south terminal is located at Etiopía Station, and links to other stations all along its three lines.
The light rail line from Xochimilco to Tasqueña is operated by Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos and is not formally part of the STC (Metro) network. It links with Line 2 at Tasqueña Station. It requires a separate 3-peso ticket.
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