The station was opened on 14 September 1970, on the first day of the service
Tasqueña–
Tacuba. It is located at the heart of the city's downtown, within the vicinity of the
National Palace, the
Metropolitan Cathedral, and the archaeological remains of
Tenochtitlan's main temple, Templo Mayor, among many other landmarks.
The station facilities are partially
accessible to people with disabilities as there is an elevator; there is an
Internet café, an information desk, a cultural display, a mural titled Cenefas conmemorativas del Bicentenario, and a passageway that connects with Pino Suárez station, where there is a free mini-cinema and various bookstores.
In 2019, the station had an average daily ridership of 71,613 passengers, making it the tenth busiest station in the network and the third busiest of the line. The station was formerly named Zócalo metro station until August 2021, when it was renamed to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the
Fall of Tenochtitlan.
There are six exits. The first one is next to National Palace to the east, the second entrance is on the opposite side, serving Constitution Square; the third and fourth are on Pino Suárez Avenue, on the south side of the square but one is on Corregidora Street (next to the building of the
Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation) on the southeast, while the other one is near the corner of Venustiano Carranza Street. The remaining exits serve the northern part of the square: one is next to the Metropolitan Cathedral, while the other is next to the National Palace near the corner of Moneda Street.[3] The area is serviced by the
Ecobici system.[4]
Inside the station
Since 2009, there is a free
Internet café, the first to be opened by the system.[5] There is also an information desk and multiple murals titled Cenefas conmemorativas del Bicentenario (2010), by Juan Carlos Garcés Botello and Jesús Cristóbal Flores Carmona.[3][6] There is also a cultural display managed by the
National Institute of Anthropology and History, where the history of Constitution Square is illustrated with a
scale model.[7] The station has a corridor that connects with Pino Suárez station through an underground passageway on the south side, called Pasaje Zócalo–Pino Suárez. It was opened in 1997 and there are 42 bookstores and a free library and mini-cinema.[8][9] Originally it was a passageway created to add another station named Salvador, but it was canceled due to the proximity of both stations.[10]
History and construction
Line 2 of the Mexico City Metro was built by Ingeniería de Sistemas de Transportes Metropolitano, Electrometro and Cometro, the latter a subsidiary of
Empresas ICA.[11] Zócalo metro station was built underground;[11] the Zócalo–Allende tunnel is 602 meters (1,975 ft) long, while the Zócalo–Pino Suárez stretch measures 745 meters (2,444 ft).[12]
The station was opened on 14 September 1970, on the first day of the
Tasqueña–
Tacuba service;[13] the facilities are partially
accessible to people with disabilities as there is an elevator.[3] In 1983, Zócalo was planned to be an
interchange station connecting Line 2 with
Line 8, which was proposed to run from
Indios Verdes to
Pantitlán.[14] The project was canceled due to the lack of planning and the potential damage it would cause to historical buildings.[14] The line was later modified to run from
Garibaldi to
Constitución de 1917 metro stations in a line that goes under
Eje Central Avenue.[15]
The
pictogram represents the
coat of arms of Mexico, which depicts an eagle perched on a
prickly pear cactus devouring a snake.[3] The station was named after the
main square of Mexico City, Constitution Square.[3] The term zócalo originally means "base" in architecture.[18] During the times of
Antonio López de Santa Anna, it was planned to have a monument dedicated to the
Mexican War of Independence at Constitution Square.[19] The sole base—an 8 m (26 ft) long and 30 cm (12 in) high pedestal—was built in 1843 but the
Mexican–American War caused the cancelation of the project. The base was eventually buried and was uncovered until 2017. Because of that, zócalo has been used as a synonym for "square" or "plaza" in
Mexican Spanish and its usage eventually spread throughout the country.[18]
In August 2020, authorities of the system changed the signage at the station to "Zócalo/Tenochtitlan", and they announced the modifications would be formalized in a civic ceremony.[20] The station was officially renamed on 13 August 2021 to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the
Fall of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the
Aztec Empire,[21] and the civil ceremony that formalized it took place on 19 August, where Puente de Alvarado Avenue and the respective
Metrobús station, named after
Pedro de Alvarado, were also renamed to Calzada México-Tenochtitlan and
México-Tenochtitlan station, respectively.[22]
Incidents
On 29 March 1998, a drunk passenger started shooting at users, injuring a security guard who tried to stop him.[23] Due to its location, Zócalo/Tenochtitlan station is commonly closed by the authorities. It has been closed due to
national security concerns,[24] the
COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico,[25][26][27] live events at Constitution Square,[28][29][30] and protests in the zone.[31][32] Demonstrators have vandalized the station multiple times.[33][34]
Ridership
According to the data provided by the authorities since the 2000s, Zócalo/Tenochtitlan metro station has been one of the busiest stations of the system's 195 stations. Before the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transport, commuters averaged per year between 69,100 and 72,300 daily entrances between 2013 and 2019; the station had a ridership of 26,138,960 passengers in 2019,[35] which was an increase of 108,763 passengers compared to 2018.[36] Also in 2019, Zócalo/Tenochtitlan metro station was the tenth busiest of the system and it was the line's third busiest.[35]
^
abcd"Afluencia de estación por línea 2023" [Station traffic per line 2023] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2024.
Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
^Almaraz, Karla (11 September 2017).
"¿Qué hay afuera de Metro Zócalo?" [What is outside Zócalo metro station?]. máspormás (in Spanish).
Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
^
abcdef"Zócalo" (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro.
Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
^Blancarte, José Luis (23 February 2011).
"En estación del Metro, la librería más grande de AL" [Inside metro station, the largest bookstore of LA]. Ciudadanía Express (in Spanish).
Archived from the original on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
^
ab"Línea 2, Ciudad de México" [Line 2, Mexico City] (in Spanish). iNGENET Infraestructura. 20 July 2009.
Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
^Nájar, Alberto (10 May 1998).
"Todo el Metro" [All about the Metro]. La Jornada (in Spanish).
Archived from the original on 5 June 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
^
abc"Afluencia de estación por línea 2019" [Station traffic per line 2019] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2020.
Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
^
ab"Afluencia de estación por línea 2018" [Station traffic per line 2018] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2019.
Archived from the original on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2021" [Station traffic per line 2021] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2022.
Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2020" [Station traffic per line 2020] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2021.
Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2017" [Station traffic per line 2017] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2019.
Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2016" [Station traffic per line 2016] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2017.
Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2015" [Station traffic per line 2015] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2016.
Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2014" [Station traffic per line 2014] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2015.
Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
External links
Look up zócalo in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.