• RIDERSHIP: Subway ridership in Mexico City remains almost half below pre-pandemic levels with 2.4 million daily average passengers during the first days of September, according to official data. In September 2019, nearly as twice many passengers used the city subway in a daily average basis (4.3 million).
• GLOBAL: Like in other major cities like London and New York, the Covid-19 lockdowns and remote work orders provoked a drastic fall in subway ridership in Mexico City. However, a series of accidents -including a fire at one of its command centers in January- have also hurt capacity.
• CAPACITY: “Lines 1 to 6 operate in contingency mode, with a lower operating capacity than before the (January) fire”, the chief of Mexico City’s subway system, Guillermo Calderón, said back in July. The Mexican capital’s subway system is the 8th largest by passengers served (1.5 billion in 2019).
• ACCIDENT: Opened in 1969, Mexico City’s subway has a total of 12 lines. Last May, the collapse of an overpass as a train was traveling over it killed 26 people and forced the temporary closure of Line 12. There is no date set for reopening Line 12, which connected working class boroughs with the city’s central area.
