Observatorio metro station (Mexico City)

Observatorio is a metro station on Mexico City Metro Line 1.<ref name="metro">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is located in the Álvaro Obregón borough of Mexico City, west of the city centre.<ref name="metro"/> When operational it is the western terminus of Line 1.<ref name="metro"/> Before its shutdown for reconstruction, the station had an average ridership of 72,296 passengers per day, making it the eighth busiest station in the network.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The station will become the terminal station of Line 12.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The station will also connect with Observatorio railway station of the El Insurgente commuter rail system. Since 9 November 2023, part of the Line has remained closed for modernization work on the tunnel and the line's technical equipment.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Observatorio metro station was mostly demolished by December 2023, and it was reconstructed to facilitate the access between the Line 1, Line 12 and the El Insurgente stations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Name and iconography

The station logo represents the stylised dome of an astronomical observatory.<ref name="metro"/> It is named after an observatory that was built by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México at the top of a hill near the station.<ref name="observatorio">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="unam">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, due to the light pollution that came as a consequence of urban growth hardly any observations were done in the observatory, and thus it was transformed into a planetarium. Previously on the site was a colonial palace that belonged to the city's Bishop.<ref name="metro"/>

General information

This station is one of the most important metro terminus in the city. It serves Mexico City's western bus depot,<ref name="metrobus">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which connects with areas of western Mexico such as México state, Michoacán, Jalisco, Querétaro and others.

The Observatorio Mexico City Metro station is the 1st station of Line 1 and the Mexico City Metro system. Service at this station began on 10 June 1972. This Mexico City Metro train station is at ground level. The trains take passengers to Tacubaya, Juanacatlán, Chapultepec, Sevilla, Insurgentes, Cuáuhtemoc, Balderas, Salto del Agua, Isabel la Catolica, Pino Suárez, Merced, Candelaria, San Lazaro, Moctezuma, Balbuena, Boulevard Puerto Aéreo, Gómez Farías, Zaragoza, and Pantitlán Mexico City Metro stations.

Originally Line 9 had its plans to end here, even pictograms in Line 1 showed this station as a transfer station for Line 9. But for an unknown reason the station was not built and the Line 9 finished at Tacubaya.

In 2017, Toluca-Mexico City commuter rail started test trains and will enter full service by 2025.

Ridership

Annual passenger ridership
Year	Ridership	Average daily	Rank	% change	Ref.
2024	0	0	189/195	Template:Change	<ref name=passnrank22-present/>
2023	11,559,632	31,670	17/195	Template:Change	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2022	13,057,993	35,775	14/195	Template:Change	<ref name=passnrank22-present/>
2021	12,178,741	33,366	8/195	Template:Change	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2020	13,343,431	36,457	9/195	Template:Change	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2019	26,388,110	72,296	9/195	Template:Change	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2018	26,970,170	73,890	9/195	Template:Change	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2017	26,764,337	73,326	8/195	Template:Change	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2016	27,732,577	75,772	8/195	Template:Change	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2015	27,711,208	75,921	8/195	Template:Change	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Future

File:RECONSTRUCCIÓN DEL METRO OBSERVATORIO 2024.jpg

The station under reconstruction

Observatorio will be the eastern terminus for El Insurgente commuter rail when the line commences regular service, projected to begin its service in 2025.

As of March 2021, an extension of Line 12 to Observatorio is under construction, which will connect it with Line 1.<ref name="ampliacion">Template:Cite news</ref> The new Line 12 station is expected to open by 2021.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

As of 2018, the connection from Line 9 Tacubaya station towards Observatorio is planned, but a completion date has not been announced.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This would make Observatorio, together with Tacubaya, Chabacano and Pantitlán, the only transfer stations in the Mexico City Metro network to have connections with three lines, in this case Line 1, Line 9 and Line 12.

In October 2020, Mexico City's government announced a project to renovate the Observatorio area and to build a terminal that will allow users to transfer between metro, commuter rail and other public transportation services. It has been projected to be used by a million people every day and will be the most important complex of this type in Latin America. Works are expected to be finished by the end of 2025.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Exits

• Northeast: Av. Minas de Arena, Col. Pino Suárez
• Northwest: Av. Minas de Arena, Col. Pino Suárez
• Southeast: Real del Monte street, Col. Pino Suárez
• Southwest: Real del Monte street, Col. Pino Suárez

Gallery

File:Metro Observatorio 01.jpg

Entry sign for Metro Observatorio

See also

• List of Mexico City metro stations

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline