Observatorio is a station on Line 1 of the

Mexico City Metro The Mexico City Metro ( es, Metro de la Ciudad de México) is a rapid transit system that serves the metropolitan area of Mexico City, including some municipalities in Mexico State. Operated by the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo (STC), it is ...

system. It is located in the

Álvaro Obregón Álvaro Obregón Salido (; 17 February 1880 – 17 July 1928) better known as Álvaro Obregón was a Sonoran-born general in the Mexican Revolution. A pragmatic centrist, natural soldier, and able politician, he became the 46th President of Me ...

borough of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, west of the city centre. This station is the western terminus of Line 1. In 2019, the station had an average ridership of 72,296 passengers per day, making it the eighth busiest station in the network. The station will become the terminal station of Line 12 in December 2023. The station will also connect with Observatorio railway station of the Toluca-Mexico City commuter rail system.

Name and iconography

The station logo represents the stylised dome of an astronomical observatory. It is named after an observatory that was built by the

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

at the top of a hill near the station. However, due to the

light pollution Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive use of artificial Visible spectrum, lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day ...

that came as a consequence of urban growth hardly any observations were done in the observatory, and thus it was transformed into a planetarium. Previously on the site was a colonial palace that belonged to the city's

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

General information

This station is one of the most important metro terminus in the city. It serves Mexico City's western bus depot, which connects with areas of western

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

such as México state, Michoacán, Jalisco, Querétaro and others. The Observatorio

station is the 1st station of Line 1 and the

system. Service at this station began June 10, 1972. This Mexico City Metro train station is underground. The trains take passengers to

Tacubaya Tacubaya is a working-class area of west-central Mexico City, in the borough of Miguel Hidalgo, consisting of the '' colonia'' Tacubaya proper and adjacent areas in other colonias, with San Miguel Chapultepec sección II, Observatorio, Daniel Ga ...

, Juanacatlán, Chapultepec, Sevilla, Insurgentes, Cuáuhtemoc, Balderas, Salto del Agua, Isabel la Catolica, Pino Suárez, Merced, Candelaria, San Lazaro, Moctezuma, Balbuena, Boulevard Puerto Aéreo, Gómez Farías, Zaragoza, and Pantitlán

stations. Originally Line 9 had its plans to end here, even pictograms in Line 1 showed this station as a transfer station for Line 9. But for an unknown reason the station was not built and the Line 9 finished at Tacubaya. In 2017, Toluca-Mexico City commuter rail started test trains and will enter full service by 2022.

Ridership

Future

Observatorio will be the eastern terminus for

Toluca–Mexico City commuter rail The Toluca–Mexico City commuter rail ( Spanish: ''Tren Interurbano de Pasajeros Toluca-Valle de México'') project is a commuter rail line currently under construction. Also known as Interurban Train Mexico City–Toluca, the passenger ...

when the line commences regular service, projected to begin its service in 2022. As of March 2021, an extension of Line 12 to Observatorio is under construction, which will connect it with Line 1. The new Line 12 station is expected to open by 2021. As of 2018, the connection from Line 9

station towards Observatorio is planned, but a completion date has not been announced. This would make Observatorio, together with

Chabacano Chavacano or Chabacano is a group of Spanish-based creole language varieties spoken in the Philippines. The variety spoken in Zamboanga City, located in the southern Philippine island group of Mindanao, has the highest concentration of speakers. ...

and Pantitlán, the only transfer stations in the

network to have connections with three lines, in this case Line 1, Line 9 and Line 12. In October 2020, Mexico City's government announced a project to renovate the Observatorio area and to build a terminal that will allow users to transfer between

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...

, commuter rail and other public transportation services. It has been projected to be used by a million people every day and will be the most important complex of this type in Latin America. Works are expected to be finished by the end of 2022.

Exits

*Northeast: Av. Minas de Arena, Col. Pino Suárez *Northwest: Av. Minas de Arena, Col. Pino Suárez *Southeast: Real del Monte street, Col. Pino Suárez *Southwest: Real del Monte street, Col. Pino Suárez

Gallery

References

External links

* {{Álvaro Obregón, D.F. Mexico City Metro stations in Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City Railway stations opened in 1972 1972 establishments in Mexico Observatorio Mexico City Metro Line 12 stations Accessible Mexico City Metro stations Railway stations located underground in Mexico