Mexico City metro to undergo modernization rather than more expansion

The government of Mexico City will prioritize maintenance investments over further expansion of its metro system, which celebrated 50 years of operations on Wednesday.

In addition to improving services for the 5.5mn passengers that use the metro system each day, the investment will serve to increase capacity by around 1mn passengers without having to build any additional lines, mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said at an event to commemorate the system’s anniversary.

The objectives of the investments are to speed up travel times, make services more frequent and improve safety.

While the first goal requires the optimization of existing processes, the second one invests money in technology for automation and power solutions.

“We need to take a true technological leap and address 50 years of obsolescence regarding automatic piloting and new trains. We will increase the network's capacity in terms of already consolidated infrastructure without having to expand the network,” Florencia Serranía, general director of metro system operator STC, said at the event.

“This will be a turning point between only looking to carrying out construction and also taking care to provide maintenance on what we already have,” she added.

INVESTMENT BREAKDOWN

Most of the planned upgrades will be carried out on line No. 1, which was opened in September 1969 and has 20 stations, moving some 1.14mn passengers per day. The modernization of this line will be comprehensive, as the line connects with 10 of the 11 lines, as well as most of the lines of the Metrobús BRT system and the first lines projected for the future Cablebús cable car systems.

“If we modernize this line, it will imply the automatic modernization of the other ones,” Sheinbaum said.

The modernization will involve 17.7bn pesos (US$905mn) in investments to purchase 30 new larger and more modern trains to serve the line. The investment will be made starting in 2020 and through 2024, and will also help authorities save on future maintenance costs.

Another 2bn pesos will be invested over the same period to rehabilitate the tracks on the line and modernize the electrical and electronic systems, helping to improve the speed of the trains and thus reduce travel times. The funds will also be used to carry out re-levelling works on 18km of the line, as well as on some service yard areas.

Meanwhile, 3bn pesos will be invested through 2021 for the implementation of a communications-based train control system – one of the most modern railway signaling systems in the world – which will serve to increase service frequency on the line from 30 to 36 trains per hour.

Authorities also announced that 300mn pesos will be invested from 2019-24 to turn the analog PAM50 automatic piloting system that the metro system currently uses into a digital one.

Another 3.2bn pesos will be spent through 2021 to modernize power supply at the Buen Tono high-voltage substation to replace 17 verification substations and to wire power supply to line No. 1. These measures will serve to power lines No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 more efficiently, benefiting 3.1mn passengers per day.

In this respect, Serranía announced that the STC is about to launch a tender for the modernization of the substation, which will be the biggest tender expected for this year.

Some 231mn pesos will be invested this and next to purchase new ticket vending machines. In a first phase, these machines will be installed at the stations on lines No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4.

Another 270mn pesos will be used to replace 100 escalators on lines No. 3, No. 4, No. 7 and No. 9 through 2021.

The remaining 200mn pesos will be invested this year to improve line No. 7 by renewing the lighting system and signage, as well as installing an AC system and certifying the fire protection system.

These modernization measures are set to turn Mexico City's metro network into one of the most efficient and modern systems in the world, according to Sheinbaum.

WHERE DOES THE METRO SYSTEM STAND?

The metro network is comprised of 12 lines totaling 226km and 195 stations, and runs mostly underground. It has the highest passenger ridership by a single operator in Latin America

The system’s most up-to-date master plan covers 2018-30, and includes mostly upgrade projects, such as adjusting the automatic piloting system for line A and adapting the trains serving those lines from six to nine cars, as well as other monitoring measures. It also addresses the maintenance and rehabilitation needs of the existing infrastructure and rolling stock.

In addition to minor works, the master plan proposes four urgent future infrastructure projects. The first would be the expansion of line B from the Buenavista Terminal to the Colegio Militar station on line No. 2.

The second would entail the northbound expansion of line No. 4. The next project to be undertaken would either be the extension of line No. 5 from Politécnico station to Tlanepantla, a Mexico state municipality located north of the capital, or the extention of line No. 8.

Although the plan did not outline dates to carry out these extension projects, the odds of launching them during Sheinbaum's six-year term, which ends in 2024, seem slim.

Although improving line No. 1 is listed among the works needed for the existing infrastructure, it was not considered a priority as it ranked fifth on the list of proposals.

There are currently two approved expansion projects for two lines of the system. One of them involves a 4.6km extension of line No. 12 from Mixcoac station to Observatorio, a station on line No. 1, and which will also serve as the future terminal of the Mexico City-Toluca interurban passenger rail link.

Launched in 2016, the expansion of metro line No. 12 is the responsibility of a consortium comprising local engineering and construction firm Promotora y Desarrolladora Mexicana (Prodemex), Prodemex subsidiary Desarrollo de Terracerias and Spanish firm Proacon. The works have faced many delays and are less than half completed. They are estimated to require an 8bn-peso investment.

The second project entails extending line No. 9 from Tacubaya station to Observatorio to connect to lines No. 1 and No. 12, and also to the future interurban train. Although the final design of this expansion has already been completed, the tender for the construction tender has yet to be launched. The works could begin next year, as Sheinbaum has said that the completion of the line No. 12 expansion would be given financial priority.