Mexico City Metro Line B is one of the twelve metro lines operating in Mexico City, Mexico. It has 21 stations and a total length of , service the line while the rest are used for maneuvers. Opened the 15th December 1999, it is the eleventh line to join the network. It serves the boroughs of Cuauhtémoc, Venustiano Carranza and Gustavo A. Madero located within the Mexico City proper, as well as the municipaliyies of Nezahualcóyotl and Ecatepec corresponding to the State of Mexico. It has interchanges with five metro lines, and its distinctive graphic identity colors are dark gray and silver, and it is the only line to use two colours to identify itself. Up to the year 2021, it was the fourth line on the network with the highest ridership, accounting for 87.5 million passengers.
Line B runs from downtown Mexico City north towards the municipality of Ecatepec de Morelos.
Currently, it is the only line in the whole metro network to use two distinctive colors: green and gray.
Alongside Line 12, Line B is one of the two metro lines of the network to have the three type of stations: underground, elevated and surface.
History
Line B was planned as a feeder line that would connect Mexico City to the adjacent municipalities of the State of Mexico, such as Ecatepec de Morelos and Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, therefore, instead of using the same numbering system as with the other metro lines, the line was named as Line B, same as in Line A, which connects Mexico City with the municipality of La Paz, also in the State of Mexico.
Line B was conceived in the early 1990s and was to originally named as Line 10. The 1994 Mexican peso crisis affected the construction of the line on its first stages as well as opposition from the citizens, specially those living in Santa María la Ribera, who claimed that Line B construction affected their houses, with damages such as sinking and breakage.
The first stretch of the line, from Buenavista to Villa de Aragón, was inaugurated on 15 December 1999 by Ernesto Zedillo, President of Mexico from 1994 to 2000, and Rosario Robles, Head of Government of the Federal District from 1991 to 2000. The second section, from Villa de Aragón to Ciudad Azteca, was opened on 30 November 2000, six years after it was planned.
An extension for Line B is planned, adding two more stations to expand the line westbound towards Colegio Militar, where line B would connect with Line 2.
Chronology 15 December 1999: from Villa de Aragón to Buenavista 30 November 2000: from Ciudad Azteca to Nezahualcóyotl
Rolling stock Alstom MP-68: 1999–present
Out of the 390 trains in the Mexico City Metro network, 36 are in service in Line B.
Station list
The stations from east to west and from south to north. No. Station Date opened Level Distance (km) ConnectionPictogram LocationBetweenstationsTotal01Ciudad Azteca 30 November 2000Ground-level,overground access-0.0 Silhouette of the neighborhood's glyph Ecatepec de Morelos State of Mexico02Plaza Aragón 0.70.7A stand of pots from a tianguis03Olímpica 0.91.6 Olympic rings04Ecatepec 0.72.3Ehecatépetl05Múzquiz 1.63.9A bust of Melchor Múzquiz06Río de los Remedios 1.35.2Sailboat Nezahualcóyotl07Impulsora 0.65.8Cart with an old hacienda08Nezahualcóyotl 1.57.3A coyote's head09Villa de Aragón 15 December 19991.58.8A collection of houses Gustavo A. Madero Mexico City10Bosque de Aragón 0.99.7 12Three forest trees11Deportivo Oceanía 1.311.0Koala holding a soccer ball12Oceanía Elevated,overground access1.012.0Kangaroo13Romero Rubio 1.013.0 10B, 18Silhouette of a bust of Romero RubioVenustiano Carranza14Ricardo Flores Magón 1.114.1Portrait of Ricardo Flores Magón15San Lázaro 1.115.2Steam locomotive16Morelos Underground,trench1.416.6Profile of José María Morelos17Tepito 0.617.2Boxing glove Cuauhtémoc18Lagunilla0.818.0Wild duck19Garibaldi/Lagunilla 0.618.6A guitar and a sarape20Guerrero 0.919.5Bust of Vincente Guerrero21Buenavista 0.720.2Diesel locomotive
Renamed stations Date Old name New name 2002 Continentes Nezahualcóyotl 2008 Tecnológico Ecatepec
Ridership The following table shows each of Line B stations total and average daily ridership during 2019.
† Transfer station ‡ Terminal
Rank Station Total ridership Average daily 1 Buenavista‡ 21,907,761 60,021 2 Ciudad Azteca‡ 21,410,326 58,658 3 Múzquiz 11,246,650 30,813 4 Ecatepec 9,740,169 26,685 5 Impulsora 9,105,811 24,947 6 Lagunilla 8,394,391 22,998 7 Nezahualcóyotl 8,378,849 22,956 8 Tepito 8,233,487 22,557 9 Río de los Remedios 7,330,993 20,085 10 Plaza Aragón 7,198,356 19,722 11 Olímpica 6,112,152 16,746 12 Deportivo Oceanía 5,731,450 15,703 13 Villa de Aragón 5,398,782 14,791 14 San Lázaro† 4,533,326 12,420 15 Oceanía† 3,788,470 10,379 16 Romero Rubio 2,925,132 8,014 17 Garibaldi / Lagunilla† 2,709,631 7,424 18 Bosque de Aragón 2,193,804 6,010 19 Ricardo Flores Magón 2,142,619 5,870 20 Guerrero† 2,090,890 5,728 21 Morelos† 1,972,909 5,405 Total 152,545,958 417,934
Tourism Line B passes near several places of interest:
Plaza Garibaldi, a square known as Mexico City's home of mariachi music where mariachi bands can be found playing or soliciting gigs from visitors. Historic center of Mexico City
Crime On its route, Line B passes through some places known for their levels of crime including Ecatepec de Morelos, Gustavo A. Madero, Venustiano Carranza, and neighborhoods such as Tepito and Colonia Morelos. Due to this, the line has a high rate of crime inside the stations and the trains, going from the presence of pickpockets and petty theft to armed robbery and sexual assault.
In 2017, at least three violent robberies were reported, in which armed men entered the wagons and stripped the passengers out of their belongings.
See also List of Mexico City Metro lines
Notes
References