My First time riding the Mexico City Metro

This is a train system I’ve wanted to ride for a long time now: the Mexico City Metro. With 13 lines, 195 stations, 200 km, and 4 million passengers a day, it’s quite impressive!

This video is an introduction to North America’s second-largest rapid transit system. We’ll be discussing the good and the bad.

For more information on all public transportation in Mexico City, click here:

Trains Are Awesome!

[MaxS-hnwe]

As an Australian I love that the pictogram for the Oceania stop is a kangaroo 🦘

[emiliano-dowr]

Fun fact: in the Bellas Artes station, there's a parisian entrance sign, donated by France as a gift

[Playami]

Fun Fact: some stations at the time seemed so futuristic that a large part of the famous 1990 futuristic movie Total Recall was filmed in the Mexico City metro, in Chabacano station, you can look for the pictures online, i was there not too long ago and recreated some pictures of the movie with my son.

[theadman]

It can't be understated that you can get pretty much anywhere in one of the biggest cities in the world for only 7 pesos. Those free transfers are amazing.

[TheInkBuildUp]

I live in Mexico, the first time I went to Mexico City, and rode the Metro, I was nervous. When I had to transfer to another train, I got lost, I ended up going in circles. haha. But eventually I got the hang of it. And those pictograms are a huge help that makes sure you don't miss your stop.

[OFFICIALDJFLASHBACK]

My mom credits the Mexico City Metro for her survival during the 1985 quake. She was about to catch the metro at Indios Verdes station when the quake hit during peak transit. It's one of Mexico's greatest marvels in my opinion.

[GeorgeTankerYT]

Answering to Line 12's accident, it was also found out that the trains that currently run along the tracks are way heavier than originally planned.

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

Aztecs: So where should we build our city?
Huitzilopochtli: You must build where you find an eagle eating a snake while perched on a cactus
Aztecs: I don't know, that sounds pretty specific-
Huitzilopochtli: *DID I STUTTER?*
Some time later...
"Good news and bad news. The good news, we found that extremely specific sign."
"And the bad news?"
"It's in the middle of a lake."
"At least it's defendable and we can build canal, like Venice."
"what's a Venice?"
"Don't worry! We'll find out eventually"
"But we will lose our city to a few invaders"
"And the invaders will destroy the canals and drain the lake, what could go wrong?"

The pictograms on the system were designed by Lance Ryman, who also designed the pictograms for the 1968 Summer Olympics and helped design the logo for those Summer Olympics as well (as part of a collab with Pedro Ramirez Vazquez, architect and President of the Organising Committee for the Games, and Eduardo Terrazas). The Mexico City 1968 emblem recalls the patterns of the Huichol, an Indigenous people, and it's my favorite Olympic emblem. While Tokyo 1964 was the first to use pictograms, Mexico City 1968 marked the beginning of corporate design in the Olympics, in which all elements such as the emblem, fonts, colors, pictograms, publications, merchandising, etc. harmonize and convey a clear message. Mexico City was the first Olympic host city to have an Olympic Identity Programme (later referred to as the Look of the Games). It's so awesome that the metro system also acts like a big museum with all those artifacts. Just like Rome! That pyramid you saw at Pino Suárez station was dedicated to Ehecatl, the Aztec god of wind. The station itself is named after José María Pino Suárez, the 7th and last Vice President of Mexico from 1911 to 1913 under the democratically elected President Francisco I. Madero (VP was first created in 1824, abolished in 1836, briefly restored in 1846 following the 1824's constitution being restored but abolished again in 1847, restored in 1904 before finally being abolished in 1917) until his assassination alongside Madero during the Ten Tragic Days, a US-backed coup that installed General Victoriano Huerta and marked a decisive turning point in Mexico's history and solidified his legacy as a martyr of the Mexican Revolution (a revolution which ousted the dictator before Madero, Porfirio Díaz). Within the Madero government, Pino Suárez led the renewal bloc, a liberal faction that advocated for policies oriented towards social liberalism and the progressive reforms promised in the Plan de San Luis. Despite challenges, politicians from his bloc played a significant role in the drafting of the 1917 Constitution of Mexico, which stands out as the world's first constitution to include extensive social and economic guarantees and protections, such as provisions regarding labor, agrarian reform, and the social dimension of property rights.

[marianop]

I love how the metro arrives at the airport terminal. With a little walking you can avoid the taxi and arrive for your flight without sitting in traffic.

[Antonio_]

The Mexico City Metro has a museum, which is located at the Mixcoac station. Also, some stations have small cinemas and others held concerts.

It even had a kind of mascot called Dresina or Metro Bebé (Baby Metro).

[DAG]

You just realize how far ahead mexico city is compared to some of our cities in Canada and the US which clearly need more public transportation like this.

[emiliano-dowr]

Fun fact: the station Copilco in Linea 3 has some really beautiful murals, taking some inspiration in the Cuicuilcas, and the murals that you can see in Ciudad Universitaria, the main campus of the most important university in the country. Also, the campus is so big that Copilco and Universidad stations (its pictogram is the university's emblem) are used by it's students

[CubeAtlantic]

Mexico's subway are dead-on interesting & detailed, i like how they look old & retro.

[jordantroche]

I love your videos! Don’t let people stop making content you enjoy ❤

[leerdasueños]

The signage in the Metro has 3 defining characteristics: Images, Names, Colors. Thus, whether passengers are Spanish speakers, Indigenous non-Spanish speakers, or tourists, the signage is informative and universally understandable. Both outside the stations and within the stations, it is easy to identify the specific Metro line and station to inform and orient the public. As tourist and later as student and resident, (and as a lover of trains) the Metro is always exciting to ride. Yes, at times very, very crowded, but always an adventure.

[himbourbanist]

Congrats on 10 years TRA!! Also CDMX has such a cool metro. It's a dream of mine to visit and ride the metro and the buses.

[LadySkywalkerW]

I'm so hypeeed for the cable system. It helped me a lot to carry myself to the city ❤ i love it so much.
Thank you so much for this wonderful video, dude. Trains are awesome and so are you

[tompeled]

The Spanish-language channel Urbanópolis has a proposal for a Mexico City RER. Mexico needs it.

[samuelaguirre]

You forgot to mention the many restaurants, shops, pharmacys and convinience stores at most stations, but great video 👌

[yyyfffff]

The Mexico city metro opened in the mid 6Os . At that time a lot of the population were illiterate . That's why the pictures are used so people knew what station to get off !