Pantitlán metro station[b] is a
Mexico City Metrotransferstation in the boroughs of
Iztacalco and
Venustiano Carranza, in
Mexico City. It is a combined underground,
at-grade, and
elevated station with six
island platforms and two
side platforms, served by Lines
1 (the Pink Line),
5 (the Yellow Line),
9 (the Brown Line), and
A (the Purple Line). The only quadra-line interchange station in the system, Pantitlán metro station works as the terminal station of all of the lines and is located followed by
Zaragoza (Line 1),
Hangares (Line 5),
Puebla (Line 9), and
Agrícola Oriental (Line A) stations. It serves the colonias (neighborhoods) of Ampliación Adolfo López Mateos, Aviación Civil, and Pantitlán; it receives its name from the last one. The station's
pictogram features the silhouettes of two flagpoles.
Pantitlán metro station opened on 19 December 1981 with service northwestward toward
Consulado on Line 5; service westward toward
Observatorio on Line 1 started on 22 August 1984; service westward toward
Centro Médico on Line 9 started on 26 August 1987; and service southeastward toward
La Paz on Line A started on 12 August 1991. The facilities are
accessible to people with disabilities as there are elevators, access ramps,
tactile pavings, and
braille signage plates. Inside there is a cultural display, an
Internet café, a women's defense module, a
public ministry office, a health module, a mural, and a
bicycle parking station.
By far, Pantitlán is the busiest station in the system. In 2019, before the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transport, the station had a ridership of 132,845,471 passengers, whereas the second place (
Cuatro Caminos station) registered 39,378,128 passengers. Out of those passengers, 45,550,938 entrances were registered on Line A, making it the busiest station when counted separately.
The station area has had subsidence problems since the 1990s, mainly caused by the
extraction of water from the subsoil to supply the large population in the east of Mexico City and the
metropolitan area. From July 2022 to October 2023, the station was closed due to modernization works on the tunnel and the line's technical equipment. As of April 2024, the Line 9 station is closed for releveling of the elevated bridge due to subsidence.
The station was named after Colonia Pantitlán, whose name means "between flags" in
Nahuatl. During the
Aztec era, the zone, formerly part of
Lake Texcoco, was marked with
flagpoles to announce to canoeists that it was dangerous to navigate there due to harsh currents.[3] The station's
pictogram features a silhouette of two flagpoles with blank flags.[3] Pantitlán station has an
accessible service with elevators (Lines 1 and A), access ramps,
escalators (Line 9) and
tactile pavings and
braille signage plates (Lines 9 and A).[3]
Line 1
The line was built by Ingeniería de Sistemas de Transportes Metropolitano, Electrometro, and Cometro, the last one a subsidiary of
Empresas ICA.[14] The Line 1 station opened on 22 August 1984, operating towards
Observatorio and connecting Lines 1 and 5.[15] Before it was opened, Zaragoza served as the terminal of Line 1, thus the
workshops are found between both stations.[16][17] The location of the workshop indirectly benefited the operations on the line as it allows the trains to depart every 90 seconds.[14] It is an underground station[18] whose interstation tunnel to Zaragoza measures 1,320 meters (4,330 ft).[19] The passenger transfer tunnel that connects Line 1 with Line A has an approximate length of 600 m (2,000 ft), and is the third-longest in the system after those of
Atlalilco and
La Raza stations.[20]
In 2016, the station received renovation work.[21] The station was closed from 11 July 2022 to 29 October 2023 for modernization work on the tunnel and technical equipment of the line.[22][23][24]
Line 5
The line was built by Cometro[25] and its first section was opened on 19 December 1981, operating toward
Consulado station.[26] It is an
at-grade station whose interstation with Hangares goes from the street level to the underground one;[27] the section is 1,644 meters (5,394 ft) long.[19]
Line 9
The line was built by Cometro[28] and its first section was opened on 26 August 1987, operating toward
Centro Médico station.[29] It is an
elevated station[28] whose interstation bridge with Puebla is 1,380 meters (4,530 ft) long.[19] Additionally, there is a
train shed after the station.[28] During the station's construction, a tusk and a molar of a mammoth were found at a depth of 13.5 meters (44 ft).[30]
Line A
The line was built by Empresas ICA[31] and it was opened on 12 August 1991, operating towards
La Paz station, located in the
municipality of the same name of the
State of Mexico.[32] Unlike the other 11 lines, Line A is described as a
light metro system[31][33] whose first interstation with Agrícola Oriental is 1,409 meters (4,623 ft) long.[19] It is the line's only underground station as the trains pass below the Line 5 tracks.[31] As it incorporates Calzada Ignacio Zaragoza Avenue, the line emerges to the street level.[27]
To build the station, ICA constructed a false rectangular-shaped tunnel using the
Milan method. They added floor
slabs and the ceiling is made up of
prefabricated slabs. Above the ceiling, they added pavement wherever it was required.[31]
From its opening until 12 December 2013, users coming from Line A had to make a double payment to access the other lines and vice versa.[34]
Landmarks
There is a cultural display, an
Internet café, a women's defense module, and a health module all inside the station.[3] Outside the station, a
public ministry office was installed in 2002 to reduce criminal offenses inside the station.[35] On 1 May 2007, the system inaugurated the mural Alegoría a la Ciudad de México y el Sistema de Transporte Colectivo (
lit. transl. Allegory to Mexico City and the Collective Transport System), painted by José Luis Elías Jáuregui. According to him, he was inspired by the
history of the country and decided to include multiple elements that represent it, including the
Popocatépetl and
Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes, an eagle devouring a snake (a reference to
the country's coat of arms), a pyramid, and a
Mestiza holding a
white dove. The acrylic-on-canvas artwork is 9 m (30 ft) wide and it honors the STC workers and it features four train models used by the system.[36][37] In 2014, the Government of Mexico City built a
bicycle parking station near the CETRAM.[38]
Incidents
Sinking issues
Sinking reports exists since at least 1998.[39] By 2016, the system informed about the existence of cracks and subsidence that would take about five years to be resolved.[40] After the
collapse of the elevated railway near
Olivos station on
Line 12 in May 2021, users reported the structural damage to other elevated stations, including Pantitlán station.[41][42] Then-
mayor of Mexico City,
Claudia Sheinbaum, said that the reports would be examined accordingly.[43]
According to a LatinUS investigation in August 2023, Sheinbaum's government commissioned Constructores ICI studies in September 2022 to identify solutions to the structural problems of the bridge, mainly in the Pantitlán–Puebla bridge. The firm recommended 539 actions, of which the most important included:[44]
The overhead track from Pantitlán station to Puebla station (150 meters [490 ft]) should be demolished and rebuilt.
160 meters (520 ft) of the bridge along Río Churubusco Avenue should be releveled.
The equipment of the line's overpass needs maintenance and replacement.
The buildings and structures at Pantitlán and Puebla stations require reinforcement.
In February 2023, authorities reinforced Line 9's overpass with metallic supports near Pantitlán station.[45] After the bridges were strengthened, the city government assured that the elevated section was safe.[46] Because the bridge shoring did not solve the problems and the sinking of the bridge persisted, the metro authorities announced in September 2023 that three stations of Line 9 (Pantitlán, Puebla, and
Ciudad Deportiva metro stations) would be closed.[47] The works are expected to be completed between December 2023 and May 2024.[48]
Other
From 1 to 16 March 2020, Pantitlán, Hangares and
Terminal Aérea stations on Line 5 were closed due to a leak of gasoline in a surface petrol station.[49] The Line 9 station was closed from 27 March to 7 April 2021 due to repairs on the section between
Velódromo and Ciudad Deportiva.[50][51] Platforms M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, and T at the CETRAM were closed on 11 October 2021 due to structural failures detected in the station's basement, which is used to house out-of-service trains.[52]
On 26 January 2022, a man threatened to jump from one of the station's line-connecting bridges. A policeman
rappeled down and caught him, but the weight of both broke the rope and both fell approximately 8 meters (26 ft). The fall caused the officer to suffer severe head trauma, while the other man resulted unhurt.[53][54]
Ridership
According to the data provided by the authorities since the 2000s, all of Pantitlán's platforms rank among the busiest stations of the system's 195 stations when counted separately. Overall, and before the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transport, the station's ridership totaled 132,845,471 passengers (363,960 passengers per day), whereas the second place (
Cuatro Caminos) registered 39,378,128 passengers in 2019.[55]
For Line 1, the ridership was 17,860,457 passengers (48,932 per day), which was an increase of 1,874,257 passengers compared to 2018. For Line 5, the station had a ridership of 36,594,748 passengers (100,259 per day), which was a decrease of 716,435 passengers compared to the previous year. For Line 9, the ridership was 32,839,328 passengers (89,970 per day), which was an increase of 1,060,592 passengers compared to 2018. For Line A, the station had a ridership of 45,550,938 passengers (124,797 per day), which was an increase of 4,700,613 passengers compared to the previous year.[55][56]
In 2019, when counted separately, the Line 1 station was the 17th busiest of the system and the line's 5th busiest. The Line 5 station was the 4th busiest in the system and the line's most used. The Line 9 station was the 5th busiest in the system and it was also the line's busiest. And the Line A station was the busiest in the network, a feat that has occurred from 2017 to 2021.[55]
As of 2010, around 789,000 commuters transited through the station daily.[9] In the same year, it was estimated that 65 percent of the users came from the State of Mexico.[57] By 2019, user traffic was approaching 100,000 passengers per hour (between 6 and 10 a.m.).[58] In 2019, the system announced measures to distribute passengers to reduce accidents and that there are plans to conclude the construction of a ring connecting all the platforms efficiently.[59]
^The Mexico City Metro system counts the entries from interchange stations separately. When counted individually, 1,426,971
passengers accessed through Line 1, 17,435,968
passengers through Line 5, 17,612,238 passengers through Line 9, and 12,048,117 passengers through Line A.[2]
^Estación del Metro Pantitlán. Spanish pronunciation: [pantiˈtlan]ⓘ. The etymology comes from the
Nahuatl language, "Between flags".
^
ab"Línea 1, Ciudad de México" [Line 1, Mexico City] (in Spanish). iNGENET Infraestructura. 20 July 2009.
Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
^Pazos, Francisco (20 February 2016).
"Modernizarán Salto del Agua y Pantitlán" [Salto del Agua and Pantitlán will be modernized]. Excélsior.
Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
^"Línea 5, Ciudad de México" [Line 5, Mexico City] (in Spanish). iNGENET Infraestructura. 20 July 2009.
Archived from the original on 2 September 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
^
abc"Línea 9, Ciudad de México" [Line 9, Mexico City] (in Spanish). iNGENET Infraestructura. 20 July 2009.
Archived from the original on 2 September 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
^
abcd"Línea A, Metro Ligero" [Line A, Light Train] (in Spanish). iNGENET Infraestructura. 20 July 2009.
Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
^Cáñez, Jorge; Patlán, Nely (31 October 2014).
"Ya llegó el 'Mega-biciestacionamiento Pantitlán'" [The "Pantitlán mega-bicycle parking station" is here]. Animal Político (in Spanish).
Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 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 5 June 2020.
^
abcd"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 2022" [Station traffic per line 2022] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2023.
Archived from the original on 5 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.