Observatorio metro station (Mexico City)

Observatorio is a metro station on Mexico City Metro Line 1. It is located in the Álvaro Obregón borough of Mexico City, west of the city centre. When operational it is the western terminus of Line 1. 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. The station will become the terminal station of Line 12. The station also connects with Observatorio railway station of the El Insurgente commuter rail system. In November 2023, Observatorio metro station was closed for modernization work on the tunnel and the line's technical equipment. the 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. Name and iconography The station logo represents the stylised dome of an astronomical observatory. It is named after Observatorio Astronómico Nacional, an observatory that was built by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México at the top of a hill near the station. 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. General information This station is one of the most important metro terminus in the city. It serves Mexico City's western bus depot, 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 2026. On 2 February 2026, Observatorio opened as the eastern terminus of the El Insurgente commuter rail. Ridership Future As of March 2021, an extension of Line 12 to Observatorio is under construction, which will connect it with Line 1. The new Line 12 station is expected to open by 2021. As of 2018, the connection from Line 9 Tacubaya station towards Observatorio is planned, but a completion date has not been announced. 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 2026. 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 Notes See also List of Mexico City metro stations References External links Media related to Estación Observatorio (Metro de México) at Wikimedia Commons