Back on Line One

Obviously, Line One of the Mexico City Metro was the first of the city's subway lines.  It was inaugurated in 1969, and at that time ran for about eight miles serving 16 stations.  (Today it runs for over ten miles and has 20 stations.)  It used to be a line that I would sometimes take to get to the Historic Center of the city.  However, since I made the permanent move down here, I had not used it until last week.  In 2022 the line was closed down for modernization work, and it was gradually reopened piecemeal.  In late April four more stops were reopened, and the Line One is once again a viable option for me when I want to go downtown.

Last Thursday I took the Metrobus to the newly renovated Insurgentes subway station.  It is  located within a large traffic circle where Insurgentes, Chapultepec and Oaxaca Avenues converge.

I passed through the turnstile and headed for the eastbound train that ends at the Pantitlán stop.  The station looked fresh and clean, and surprisingly it was not very crowded.

The sign shows the stations on Line One.

The stations that reopened most recently are Chapultepec, Sevilla, Insurgentes (where I was), and Cuauhtémoc.  Salto de Agua, Isabel la Católica, and Pino Suárez are all located on the southern edge of the Historic Center.  The bottom three stations on the sign have not yet been reopened.  They are supposed to be open by August (although I am not holding my breath).  The end of the line, Observatorio, will connect with the train (still under construction) which will travel 36 miles to the east to the city of Toluca.

This mural painting near the platform is still there.  It shows some of Mexico's most famous 20th century painters... from left to right, David Alfaro Siqueiros, José Clemente Orozco, Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera... drinking tequila in a bar.

I could be wrong, but I don't recall that this mural was there before.  I think it is supposed to portray people waiting on the subway platform.  One surrealistic detail I did not notice at first is that one of the women is pregnant, and her unborn child is glowing through her dress.

The platform was also fresh and brightly illuminated.

A poster said that 29 new trains had been purchased for the refurbished line.  They are environmentally friendly and hold 35% more passengers.

Even though I did not have a seat for the entire ride, the car did seem less crowded.  And it definitely looked shiny and brand new.

I got off at the "Isabel la Católica" stop to visit a couple of new museums on the southern edge of the Historic Center. After my visit, I used a different station for my return to the apartment.  "Salto de Agua" is named after the 18th century Baroque fountain that was the terminus of the aqueduct that brought water to the city from the springs at Chapultepec.

The "Salto de Agua" station is the convergence of two Metro lines.  The long passageway leading to Line One had obviously not been part of the renovation project.  It was generally dingy with dimmer lighting and missing floor tiles.

Once I reached the platform for Line One, however, everything was bright, shiny, and new again.

In the future, I will certainly use Line One of the Metro for many of my trips downtown.