Mexico City Metro users reported delays on several lines and smoke in the Line 3 Juárez station on Friday.
Metro users in the capital claimed that several of the city’s 12 lines were delayed, with complaints that lines A, B, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 9 experienced wait times of up to 20 minutes, resulting in overcrowding of passengers. On Line A, it reportedly took riders up to 20 minutes just to pass through the turnstiles.
The Collective Transport System (STC), the Metro’s operator, maintained that trains running on Line 3 on Friday were arriving every five minutes. Meanwhile, users reported delays of up to 30 minutes, presumably due to a mass of smoke in the Juárez station.
The STC said that the smoke followed a power outage caused by “garbage on the tracks,” insisting that train circulation had halted for only five minutes. Users, however, reported outages at several other stations along the green line, such as the Hidalgo station, where passengers were deboarded from a train. Images and videos circulating on social media show users covering their noses and mouths to shield themselves from the smoke.
Some lines also closed early on Friday in preparation for the free Rosalía concert in the Zócalo, Mexico City’s main historic square. The surrounding Zócalo-Tenochtitlán and Allende stations will remain closed until further notice. Alternatives include lines 2, 3, 8, 9, B and 1, which will remain open until 1 a.m. on Saturday, April 29.
According to Metro authorities, failures in the city’s public transportation system appear to be increasing, although there are no statistics on how the system fares under the current administration compared to past ones, the newspaper El Financiero said.
There were 1,766 failures and accidents recorded on the Mexico City Metro between January 2020 and June 2022 that resulted in a suspension of service and the evacuation of trains. This represents an average of two per day.
In some cases, the accidents have resulted in injury and death. In January, two trains collided, killing one and injuring more than 100 others. In May 2021, 26 people were killed and 70 injured when the Line 12 overpass collapsed onto the road below.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum recently announced the investment of an additional 1.5 billion pesos (US $83 million) towards the modernization of the Metro, which serves nearly five million users daily.
With reports from El Financiero and Infobae
