# Balbuena metro station

Balbuena metro station is a station of the Mexico City Metro in Venustiano Carranza, Mexico City. It is an underground station with two side platforms, serving Line 1 (the Pink Line) between Moctezuma and Boulevard Puerto Aéreo metro stations. Balbuena metro station was inaugurated on 4 September 1969, and opened the following day, providing westward service toward Chapultepec and eastward service toward Zaragoza.
The station services the colonias (neighborhoods) of Jardín Balbuena and Moctezuma 1ª sección, along Calzada Ignacio Zaragoza. Its pictogram features the silhouette of four flowers, each with four petals, which symbolize the Balbuena Garden in the neighborhood of the same name, and from which the station takes its name. The station facilities offer accessibility for people with disabilities, featuring elevators, escalators, tactile pavings and wheelchair ramps. Outside, the station includes a transport hub servicing local bus routes.
In 2019, Balbuena station had an average daily ridership of 13,431 passengers, ranking it the 133rd busiest station in the network and the second least used on the line. Balbuena metro station was closed from July 2022 to October 2023 due to modernization works on the tunnel and the line's technical equipment.

## Location and layout

Balbuena is an underground metro station situated on Calzada Ignacio Zaragoza, in Venustiano Carranza, Mexico City. The station serves two Colonias (neighborhoods), Jardín Balbuena and Moctezuma 1ª sección. The station's pictogram depicts silhouettes of four flowers, each with four petals, symbolizing the nearby garden of the same name. This garden, in turn, was named after Bernardo de Balbuena, a Spanish poet known for his work "La grandeza mexicana" ("The Grandeur of Mexico").
Balbuena metro station has two exits that connect to Calzada Ignacio Zaragoza. The northern exit is near Calle 17 in Colonia Moctezuma 1ª sección and the southern one at Avenida de la Portilla in Colonia Jardín Balbuena. The station offers a disabled-accessible service with elevators, escalators, wheelchair ramps and tactile pavings.
Within the metro system, the station lies between Moctezuma and Boulevard Puerto Aéreo. The area is serviced by a Centro de transferencia modal (CETRAM), which functions as a transport hub for connecting various modes of transportation.

## History and construction

Line 1 of the Mexico City Metro was built by Ingeniería de Sistemas de Transportes Metropolitano, Electrometro and Cometro, the latter being a subsidiary of Empresas ICA. Its first section, where Balbuena station is located, was inaugurated on 4 September 1969, running from Chapultepec to Zaragoza metro stations. It opened to the general public the following day. The tunnel between Balbuena and Boulevard Puerto Aéreo spans 595 meters (1,952 ft) in length, while the section between Balbuena and Moctezuma measures 703 meters (2,306 ft).
Balbuena station underwent renovation works that included the installation of antibacterial porcelain sheeting and LED lighting technology. Additionally, leaks were sealed, and electrical panels were replaced as part of the upgrade efforts. The station was closed on 11 July 2022 for modernization work on the tunnel and technical equipment of the line. After fifteen months of renovations, authorities reopened Balbuena station on 29 October 2023. Excélsior reported in July 2024 that all the modernized stations had leaks of varying dimensions, with containers visible under the leaks at Balbuena station. Authorities had stated they would seal these leaks during the 2022 modernization repairs.

### Incidents

On 20 January 2021, the station experienced a sewage flood due to a sump system failure attributed to power outages caused by the Central Control Center fire that occurred two weeks earlier.

## Ridership

According to data provided by authorities, before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transport, commuters averaged per year between 12,400 and 15,700 daily entrances between 2014 and 2019; the station had a ridership of 4,902,639 passengers in 2019, marking an increase of 111,634 passengers compared to 2018. In 2019 specifically, Balbuena metro station ranked as the 133rd busiest station out of the system's 195 stations and was the second least used on the line.
Annual passenger ridership :
| Year | Ridership | Average daily | Rank | % change |
| 2023 | 375,147 | 1,027 | 187/195 | −76.64% |
| 2022 | 1,606,016 | 4,400 | 164/195 | −28.50% |
| 2021 | 2,246,042 | 6,153 | 131/195 | −17.85% |
| 2020 | 2,734,008 | 7,469 | 125/195 | −44.23% |
| 2019 | 4,902,639 | 13,431 | 133/195 | +2.33% |
| 2018 | 4,791,005 | 13,126 | 130/195 | +5.27% |
| 2017 | 4,551,153 | 12,468 | 132/195 | −7.92% |
| 2016 | 4,942,850 | 13,505 | 125/195 | −3.00% |
| 2015 | 5,095,489 | 13,960 | 118/195 | −6.38% |
| 2014 | 5,442,959 | 14,912 | 109/195 | −5.16% |
| Historical annual passenger ridership ||||||
| 2009 | 4,331,447 | 11,866 | 115/175 | — |