Zapotitlán metro station[a] is a
station of the
Mexico City Metro in the town of Santiago Zapotitlán and in the colonia (neighborhood) of Conchita Zapotitlán, in
Tláhuac,
Mexico City. It is an
elevated station with two
side platforms, served by
Line 12 (the Golden Line), between
Nopalera and
Tlaltenco metro stations. The station's
pictogram features the
glyph of Santiago Zapotitlán, which shows a toothed sapote tree with three branches. The station was opened on 30 October 2012, on the first day of service between
Tláhuac and
Mixcoac metro stations.
The facilities are
accessible to people with disabilities as there are elevators,
tactile pavings and
braille signage plates and there is a
bicycle parking station. In 2019, the station had an average daily ridership of 13,683 passengers, making it the 13th busiest station on the line. Since it was opened, Zapotitlán station has had multiple incidents, including a 20-month closure in 2014 due to structural faults found in the
elevated section of the line, a closure caused by the
19 September 2017 earthquake, and the subsequent
collapse of the track near
Olivos station in 2021.
There are two exits: the northern one on the corner of Tláhuac Avenue and Cesáreo Castro Street, in the town of Santiago Zapotitlán, and the second on the opposite side of Tláhuac Avenue, on the corner of Emilio Laurent Street, on the colonia of Conchita Zapotitlán.[4] Zapotitlán station has two levels: the station's
platforms and the
access lobby.[6] The area is serviced by Routes 162 and 162-D of the
Red de Transporte de Pasajeros network.[7]
History and construction
Line 12 of the Mexico City Metro was built by
Empresas ICA, in association with
Alstom Mexicana and
Grupo Carso.[8] Zapotitlán is an
elevated station;[9] the Zapotitlán–Nopalera interstation is 1,276 m (4,186 ft) long,[10] while the Zapotitlán–Tlaltenco section goes from overground to the street level,[9] and measures 1,115 m (3,658 ft).[10]
The station was opened on 30 October 2012, on the first day of the
Mixcoac–
Tláhuac service.[11] Zapotitlán metro station is named after the town of Santiago Zapotitlán and its
pictogram depicts the
glyph of the town, which depicts an indented
sapote tree with three branches. The tree is toothed, a reference to the
Nahuatl word Tlantli (meaning 'tooth'), which is represented in the name of the station by the suffix -tlan.[4]
Incidents
The original location was opposed by local residents and it ended up being changed.[12][13] Since 2010, the
Superior Auditor of the Federation has audited Line 12 several times and has reported several faults, like cracks and detachments along the line, including some at the Nopalera–Zapotitlán–Tlaltenco overpass.[14][15]
From 12 March 2014 to 29 November 2015,[16][17] Zapotitlán was closed due to technical and structural faults in the stretch
Atlalilco–Tláhuac.[18][19] After the
19 September 2017 earthquake damaged Line 12 tracks, Zapotitlán remained closed until 30 October 2017.[20][21] In the zone, the earthquake derailed two trains: one in the Zapotitlán–Tlaltenco overpass and the other one on the opposite section;[22] the latter damaged the track's seismic jacketing protection.[23] On 3 May 2021, the station was closed after a portion of Line 12's elevated railway
collapsed near
Olivos station.[24]
Between Zapotitlán and Nopalera metro stations there are two
sharp curves close to each other; the system marks them as Curves 11 and 12. Curve 11 has a radius of 200 m (660 ft) while Curve 12 has a radius of 201.9 m (662 ft)—both are the tightest of the overpass.[25] According to the Metro union leader, when there are sharp curves, the trains wear out the rails and wheels, causing them to clatter and damage structures such as
girders and columns.[22] After the 2017 earthquake, a girder in the section was reinforced with a diagonally-reinforced beam[26] because a seismic top on Column 41 was damaged during the incident.[27] The line uses
FE-10 steel-wheeled trains by
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles. They have a length of 140 m (460 ft) and a width of 280 cm (110 in).[28][29] According to the former director of the system, Joel Ortega, trains do not exit a curve when they are already on the next one, and the maximum speed for taking them was adjusted to 25 km/h (16 mph) for safe train travel but the speed wears and tears on the tracks and wheels. He also said that damage to the tracks had been reported since 2012 and that 900 m (3,000 ft) of track had been replaced within a month of its inauguration.[30]
Ridership
According to the data provided by the authorities, except for the years when the Zapotitlán metro station was closed for several months, commuters have averaged per year between 10,800 and 13,700 daily entrances. In 2019, before the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transport, the station's ridership totaled 4,994,118 passengers,[31] which represented an increase of 379,217 passengers compared to 2018.[32] In the same year, Zapotitlán was the 130th busiest of the system's 195 stations, and it was the line's 13th busiest.[31]
^
abc"Afluencia de estación por línea 2023" [Station traffic per line 2023] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2024.
Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
^
ab"Afluencia de estación por línea 2018" [Station traffic per line 2018] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2019.
Archived from the original on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2022" [Station traffic per line 2022] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2023.
Archived from the original on 5 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2021" [Station traffic per line 2021] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2022.
Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2020" [Station traffic per line 2020] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2021.
Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2017" [Station traffic per line 2017] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2019.
Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2016" [Station traffic per line 2016] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2017.
Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2015" [Station traffic per line 2015] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2016.
Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2014" [Station traffic per line 2014] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2015.
Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.