Crippled: The collective transportation system, AKA Mexico City Metro

[tae]

This morning a fire in the headquarters of the Mexico City metro (Caused by a transformer fire) crippled six of the twelve metro lines, accounting for more than half of the length of the system.

This huge setback could be devastating for the millions of passengers who use lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of one of the cheapest and busiest metro systems in the world.

Two people have died because of the fire, and dozens have been hospitalized.

Some experts have warned that because of the antiquated technology used by the metro's oldest lines, the disruption could last for months on end as the government finds the appropriate technicians for the job. A report by the federal transportation secretary back in August warned of the outdated electrical system which was also being stressed to the very limits. The report noted that some parts of the system were installed nearly 50 years ago, when replacement might've been recommended 35-45 years into service.

This is not the first time something about the Metro becomes controversial. The latest expansion, line 12, was flawed from the beginning as it was designed as a rail system rather than a wheeled system like the rest of the lines.

So, as service is replaced by buses and other options, trafic in the city will become unbearable, and the economic cost will be insane.

[pip bip]

@tae ouch that's going to suck. which line are you closest to?

[tae]

@pip-bip Luckily neither the line near my home, nor the line near my workplace was damaged, so hopefully traffic won't get worse near those. On the other hand one of the lines that got wrecked has a large interchange on an avenue I have to drive on to go to work, so it might become more congested. Most of the disruption will affect the downtown area and some of the east west connections...

[VincentMalamute]

@tae I took the Metro a few times 20 odd years ago when I visited a friend who lives in Mexico City. I seem to remember it being quite nice? Maybe my lousy memory is confusing it with DC's Metro.

[tae]

@vincentmalamute I'm pretty sure it wasn't thay bad 20 years ago, the biggest problem is that the infrastructure has remained pretty much the same for thirty or forty years in some lines. I've always gotten good reviews of the system by foreigners, mainly because it's agressively cheap. Back in 2018 a sensor broke so they lost track of all the trains in line 2, and they started tracking them with fucking post it notes

[VincentMalamute]

@tae said in Crippled: The collective transportation system, AKA Mexico City Metro:

I'm pretty sure it wasn't thay bad 20 years ago,

Yeah, time flies. Mexico DF was nice back then. I wonder how it's changed since. I imagine it can't be too bad since my friend (American) still lives there.