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 ...

Line 1 is one of the twelve

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 ...

lines operating in

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 ...

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 ...

. Officially inaugurated in 1969, it went to become the first metro line to be built in the country. Its identifying color is pink and it runs through the city from west to east.

General information

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 Lines 7 and 9 at the Station

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 ...

, Line3 at Balderas, Line8 at Salto del Agua, Line2 at Pino Suárez, Line4 at Candelaria, LineB at San Lázaro and Lines 5, 9and A at Pantitlán. When Line12 extension is completed, it will also connect with Line12 at Observatorio.

History

The first section of Line 1 was opened on 4 September 1969 as part of Mexico City Metro's first construction stage, it was inaugurated by

Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Bolaños (; 12 March 1911 – 15 July 1979) was a Mexican politician and member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He served as the President of Mexico from 1964 to 1970. Díaz Ordaz was born in San Andrés ...

President of Mexico The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Co ...

from 1964 to 1970, and Alfonso Corona del Rosal, Regent of the Federal District Department. The inauguration ceremony took place at the Insurgentes station. The next day the line was opened to the public. To the original route (

Chapultepec Chapultepec, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" (Chapultepec Forest) in Mexico City, is one of the largest city parks in Mexico, measuring in total just over 686 hectares (1,695 acres). Centered on a rock formation called Chapultep ...

–

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

) a new station,

Juanacatlán Juanacatlán () is a town and ''municipio'' (municipality) in the central region of the Mexican state of Jalisco. Origin of name Juanacatlán gets its name from the Nahuatl word "Xonacatlan", which means ''place abundant in onions'' or ''onion p ...

, was added to the west on 11 April 1970, and the first ''correspondencia'' (a transfer station) became functional on 1 August 1970 when Line2 was opened. The two westernmost stations

and current terminal Observatorio were inaugurated on 20 November 1970 and 10 June 1972 respectively. Station Pantitlán was opened on 22 August 1984 as the eastern terminal during a fourth and final expansion. All twenty stations have operated since then, running a total track length of , of which are passenger track. The1 is the only line in the network that is fully underground except for some surface track in Observatorio used for maintenance. As of 2020, an extension of Line12 is under construction, this stretch will connect Line12 with Line1 at the Observatorio station. Authorities warned on 10 August

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

that Line1 is in danger of a major fire due to an aging electrical system that is in need of major improvements. Lines 1, 2, and 3 report an average of 2.5 electrical failures daily. As a result, the line will undergo renovations that require its closure. The first closure will be from Pantitlán to Salto de Agua stations starting on 11 July 2022 and concluding in March 2023. The second closure will be from Balderas to Observatorio stations and will conclude in August 2023. During both periods, all railway elements will be replaced with modern material, the wiring will be replaced, damage due to leaks and cracks will be repaired, stations that are not yet modernized will be updated, and accessibility will be added to stations that lack it.

Chronology

*September 4, 1969: from Chapultepec to Zaragoza. *April 11, 1970: from Chapultepec to Juanacatlán. *November 20, 1970: from Juanacatlán to Tacubaya. *June 10, 1972: from Tacubaya to Observatorio. *August 22, 1984: from Zaragoza to Pantitlán.

Rolling stock

Line 1 has had different types of rolling stock throughout the years. * Alstom MP-68, 1969–2018 * Concarril NM-73, since 1978 * Alstom MP-82, 1985–1994 * Concarril NM-83, 1989–2018 * CAF NE-92, 1994–2018 * Bombardier NC-82, 2006–2007 * Concarril NM-79, 2011–2012 * CAF NM-16, since 2018 Currently, out of the 390 trains in the

network, 49 are in service in Line1.http://www.metro.cdmx.gob.mx/operacion/parque-vehicular Parque vehicular (Rolling stock)

Station list

The stations from west to east:

Renamed stations

Ridership

The following table shows each of Line 1 stations total and average daily ridership during 2019.

Tourism

Line 1 passes near several places of interest. *

Bosque de Chapultepec Chapultepec, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" (Chapultepec Forest) in Mexico City, is one of the largest city parks in Mexico, measuring in total just over 686 hectares (1,695 acres). Centered on a rock formation called Chapultep ...

, city park **

Museo de Arte Moderno The Museo de Arte Moderno (Museum of Modern Art) is located in Chapultepec park, Mexico City, Mexico. The museum is part of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura and provides exhibitions of national and international contemporary a ...

, museum of modern art **

Chapultepec Castle Chapultepec Castle ( es, Castillo de Chapultepec) is located on top of Chapultepec Hill in Mexico City's Chapultepec park. The name ''Chapultepec'' is the Nahuatl word ''chapoltepēc'' which means "on the hill of the grasshopper". The castle has s ...

**Heroic Cadets Memorial, a monument dedicated to the memory of the

Niños Héroes The ''Niños Héroes'' (Boy Heroes, or Heroic Cadets) were six Mexican military cadets who were killed in the defence of Mexico City during the Battle of Chapultepec, one of the last major battles of the Mexican–American War, on 13 September ...

Chapultepec Zoo Chapultepec Zoo (Spanish: ''Zoológico de Chapultepec'') is a zoo located in Chapultepec Park; it is one of four zoos near Mexico City, and the best known Mexican zoo. It was founded July 6, 1923 by Mexican biologist Alfonso Luis Herrera using ...

Estela de Luz The Estela de Luz (Stele of Light) is a monument in Mexico City built in 2011 to commemorate the bicentenary of Mexico's independence from Spanish rule. Its design was the winning entry in an invited competition to seek the best combination of Me ...

, a monument that commemorates the bicentenary of Mexico's independence *

Paseo de la Reforma Paseo de la Reforma (translated as "Promenade of the Reform") is a wide avenue that runs diagonally across the heart of Mexico City. It was designed at the behest of Emperor Maximilian by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig during the era of the Secon ...

, emblematic avenue of

* Diana the Huntress Fountain, a monumental fountain of Diana located at

Angel of Independence The Angel of Independence, most commonly known by the shortened name ''El Ángel'' and officially known as ''Monumento a la Independencia'' ("Monument to Independence"), is a victory column on a roundabout on the major thoroughfare of Paseo de ...

, a victory column on a roundabout on the major thoroughfare of Paseo de la Reforma * Zona Rosa, a neighborhood known for its shopping centers, nightlife, gay community, and Korean community *

Historic center of Mexico City The historic center of Mexico City ( es, Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México), also known as the Centro or Centro Histórico, is the central neighborhood in Mexico City, Mexico, focused on Zócalo or main plaza and extending in all directio ...

Notes and references

{{Mexico City transport network 1969 establishments in Mexico 1 Railway lines opened in 1969