- Fare and where to buy tickets
- Metro lines
- Working hours
- History
- Peculiarities
The most popular form of transport in the Mexican capital is the Mexico City metro. Its branches cover all areas of the huge city, they penetrate it from the outskirts to the center. Using this type of transport, you can easily get to the international airport, as well as to all four city bus stations. That is why tourists use this transport system so often. Another reason why visitors to the city often use the services of the local metro is the following: many stations are located in close proximity to the city's most popular attractions. For example, some of these attractions:
- Cathedral;
- Chapultepec Palace;
- Palace of Fine Arts.
Thus, if you are going to visit the Mexican capital, then it is safe to say that you will spend a lot of time in its subway. This will be the first Mexico City mode of transport you will use upon arrival; his services, of course, you will need more than once during your stay in the city; on the day of departure, you will most likely also take the metro to the airport. Therefore, the text below will surely seem interesting to you.
Fare and where to buy tickets
The ticket price is five pesos. The travel document is valid for an hour and a half. You can pay for travel with a special contactless card. It operates in all types of transport in the Mexican capital.
Unlike the metro in many other cities, the Mexico City metro does not offer reusable travel documents or tickets that are valid for several days.
There is nothing unusual in the procedure for buying a travel document: just like in many metro systems in the world, there are cash desks and machines for this purpose. It is better to stock up on cash in advance, as not all stations have the option to pay with a bank card.
At the entrance to the metro, the ticket is dropped into a special opening of the turnstile. If you pay with a contactless card, then it must be attached to the appropriate reader.
Metro lines
The metro system of the Mexican capital includes twelve branches and about two hundred stations. The total length of the lines is about two hundred twenty-six kilometers.
More than a hundred stations are located underground, more than fifty are at ground level and only about two and a half dozen stations are built above the ground. Over twenty stations are interchange stations (they connect several branches).
Each line has a digital or letter designation, and is also depicted in a special color on the metro map. One of the branches is even indicated with two colors.
Two lines are completely land lines. The twelfth line, built recently, is distinguished by very long passages: to overcome some of them, it takes a passenger from five to ten minutes (even taking into account the travelators installed in these passages).
More than four and a half million people are transported by the metro every day. If we talk about the annual passenger traffic, then it is equal to about one and a half billion passengers. Metro of the Mexican capital is one of the busiest metros in the world.
The gauge meets the standards of European metro systems. Some of the compositions were made in France, the other part - in the Mexican capital. Most of the platforms are onshore, but there are also a few island ones.
Working hours
On weekdays, the Mexican capital's metro opens at five in the morning and closes at midnight. On Saturday, the first passengers can get on the metro only at six o'clock in the morning, and on Sunday and on holidays - an hour later.
History
The metro of the Mexican capital was opened at the end of the 60s of the XX century and continues to develop. The twelfth line opened only a few years ago; in technical terms, it differs significantly from other lines of this transport system.
Currently, due to the tense traffic situation on the city's roads, the metro is perhaps the most popular type of urban transport. It allows you to quickly get to almost anywhere in the metropolis and at the same time avoid traffic jams (which, alas, are not uncommon in this huge city).
Peculiarities
The entrances to the metro station of the Mexican capital are visible from afar: near each entrance there is a pillar with an orange logo. Also on this pillar you will read the name of the station and see the colors of the lines it serves. In addition, the symbol of this station (a stylized image of a plant, animal or person) is placed on the pillar; these symbols were designed specifically for the part of the population of the Mexican capital that cannot read. When the history of the Mexico City metro was just beginning, there were a lot of such people in the city. They say that at present not all residents of the Mexican capital have learned to read and write.
The interior design of the metro is mostly not bright or original. However, exhibitions of paintings, photographs and sculptures by contemporary authors are often held on the premises of the metro.
But some stations still give an impression of unusual design. So, in the transition between the Fifth and Third branches, the vault is a luminous map of the starry sky! And at the “Auditorio” station there are several stands dedicated to various metro systems of the world. Among them there is a stand with information about the metro of the Russian capital. True, the layout of the Moscow metro stationed there is very outdated.
At some stations there are Internet cafes where you can use the global network for half an hour for free. All stations also house various shops and kiosks where you can buy, for example, sweets.
The compositions are colored orange (very bright). Most of them are tire-mounted (that is, ordinary rubber tires are used). The number of wagons in the train is from four to six. During rush hours, when there is a strong crush on the metro, the first few carriages are intended exclusively for children under the age of ten (or, according to other sources, under the age of twelve) and for the fair sex. Near such cars, a law enforcement officer monitors that no male passengers enter them.
By the way, law enforcement officers in the subway of the Mexican capital can be seen quite often. They stand on special elevations and watch what is happening in order to intervene in the event of an emergency.
To feel confident in the Mexico City metro, it is best to learn at least a few words of Spanish to help you read the main signs and communicate with the metro staff if you have any problems. Not all metro workers know English and, of course, none of them knows Russian. However, if you do not know a word of Spanish, you will still be able to understand the peculiarities of this transport system - but, perhaps, in this case, you will need a little more time.
Official website: www.metro.cdmx.gob.mx
Mexico City Metro
