Metro Terminal Aérea

Terminal Aérea (Spanish pronunciation; Spanish for "Air Terminal")[2] is a station of the Mexico City Metro, located next to the Mexico City International Airport in Venustiano Carranza, Mexico City. It is an underground station with 2 side platforms, served by Line 5 (the Yellow line), between Oceanía and Hangares stations. The station serves colonias Peñón de los Baños and Moctezuma 2ª sección.

Terminal Aérea
STC rapid transit
Station sign, 2006
Location	Puerto Aéreo Boulevard Venustiano Carranza, Mexico City Mexico
Coordinates	19°26′01″N 99°05′16″W
Operated by	Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro
Line(s)	Line 5
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	Mexico City International Airport Terminal 1 Trolleybus Line 4
Construction
Structure type	Underground
History
Opened	19 December 1981
Traffic
Passengers (2019)	6,712,062[1]
Rank	96/195[1]
Services
Preceding station STC Following station Oceanía toward Politécnico Line 5 Hangares toward Pantitlán
Route map Politécnico Instituto del Petróleo Autobuses del Norte La Raza Misterios Valle Gómez Consulado Eduardo Molina Aragón Oceanía Terminal Aérea Hangares Pantitlán Pantitlán yard
Location
Terminal Aérea Location within Mexico City

Terminal Aérea station was opened on 19 December 1981, on the first day of then Consulado–Pantitlán service. The station's pictogram features an airliner and a control tower, and its name is on account of its proximity to the check-in areas of Mexico City International Airport Terminal 1. There are six murals painted by David Lach inside the station.

Location

View of Terminal Aérea bus stop seen from Boulevard Puerto Aéreo

Terminal Aérea is a metro station located on Puerto Aéreo Boulevard, Venustiano Carranza borough, eastern Mexico City,[3] 200 meters (660 ft) away from Mexico City International Airport Terminal 1, Gate A.[4][5] On their Policy Review of Mexico, the OECD criticized the station for not having proper signage and for not being designed for first-time travelers as they "must negotiate over 110 steps" to reach it.[6] Terminal Aérea also serves colonias Peñón de los Baños and Moctezuma 2ª sección in the Venustiano Carranza borough.[7] Within the system, the station lies between Oceanía and Hangares stations.[7]

Terminal 1 Metrobús station (Line 4) services the area, as well as Line 4 (formerly Line G) of the trolleybus system.[7]

Exits

• East: Boulevard Puerto Aéreo and Aeropuerto Civil street, colonia Peñón de los Baños.[7]
• West: Boulevard Puerto Aéreo (between Norte 33 and Oriente 33 streets), colonia Moctezuma 2ª sección.[7]

History and construction

View of the station platforms in 2006

Line 5 of Mexico City Metro was built by Grupo ICA (es);[8] Terminal Aérea was opened on 19 December 1981, on the first day of the Consulado–Pantitlán service.[9] Between the Oceanía–Terminal Aérea interstation, the track goes from surface to underground,[8] and when it opened the track had a 4.9% slope.[10] The Terminal Aérea–Hangares interstation tunnel was built with slurry walls, using the Milan method.[8] Terminal Aérea was built underground,[11] with Santo Tomás marble floors, travertine marble walls, rustic-textured stucco plafond, and inside there are six murals.[8] The station logo represents an airliner in front of a control tower.[7]

Before Terminal Aérea was built, Mexico City International Airport was serviced by Aeropuerto station on Line 1 (the Pink line), located 15 blocks away.[12] After Terminal Aérea was built, people still got off Aeropuerto due to the confusing name and pictogram, an airliner silhouette.[13][14] It was until 1997 the station was renamed "Boulevard Puerto Aéreo" and the logo replaced with a pictogram of a bridge with a dome below, in reference to local features.[15]

Incidents

On 4 May 2015, an accident took place in Oceanía station when a train coming from Terminal Aérea crashed another one parked at the end of the platforms.[16] Since 1981, subsidence increased the Oceanía–Terminal Aérea slope to at least 7% and contributed to the crash.[17] To reduce sinking, which is caused by rain, a 1 km (0.62 mi) tunnel is required, but due to lack of budget the project was canceled.[16]

From 1 to 16 March 2020, Terminal Aérea, Hangares, and Pantitlán stations were closed due to a leak of gasoline in a surface petrol station.[18]

Ridership

In 2019, Terminal Aérea had a ridership of 6,712,062 passengers (18,389 passengers per day),[1] which was an increase of 74,719 passengers compared to 2018.[19] In the same year, the station was the 96th busiest in the system, out of a total of 195 stations, and the 4th busiest on Line 5.[1]

Annual passenger ridership
Year	Ridership	Average daily	Rank	Ref.
2019	6,712,062	18,389	96/195	[1]
2018	6,637,343	18,184	100/195	[19]
2017	6,282,484	17,212	105/195	[20]
2016	6,117,190	16,713	108/195	[21]
2015	5,937,008	16,265	106/195	[22]
2014	5,734,509	15,710	108/195	[23]
2013	5,536,824	15,169	113/195	[24]
2012	5,477,872	14,966	119/195	[25]
2011	5,843,503	16,009	116/175	[26]
2010	4,778,274	13,091	114/175	[27]

Landmarks

Terminal Aérea station has six murals painted in 1981 by Mexican artist David Lach, becoming the first person to do it inside Mexico City Metro.[28] Four murals, titled Paisajes cálidos y fríos,[29] are located at the end of each platform (Cálidos in the southern walls and Fríos in the northern walls);[8] according to Lach, they represent direction and temperature with the colors red and green.[30] The other two murals are located in the lobby, titled Tlaltilco (east lobby) and Cuitzeo (west lobby);[8][29] they represent a mixture of the pre-Columbian era with contemporary Mexico.[28]

A pedestrian bridge nicknamed "MacPuente" is located near the station. People use it as an improvised observation deck to see the landing and take-off of airplanes.[31][32]

Gallery

Murals by David Lach

Cuitzeo, in honor of pre-Hispanic cultures

Tlatilco, in honor of pre-Hispanic cultures

One of the Paisajes Cálidos

One of the Paisajes Fríos

Inside Terminal Aérea, there are multiple murals

References

1. "Afluencia de estación por línea 2019" (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2020. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
2. Sultana, Selima; Weber, Joe (2016). Minicars, Maglevs, and Mopeds: Modern Modes of Transportation Around the World. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 194. ISBN 978-1-4408-3494-3.
3. "Metro". Mexico City International Airport. 25 July 2017. Archived from the original on 9 July 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
4. Baird, David; Cristiano, Juan; Bairstow, Lynne (2007). Frommer's Mexico 2008. New York City: John Wiley & Son. p. 90. ISBN 9780470145746.
5. Harvard Student Agencies (1995). Hale-Wehmann, Kenneth (ed.). "Let's Go: The Budget Guide to Mexico". Let's go!. New York City: St. Martin's Press: 60. ISSN 0884-6529. OCLC 11735368.
6. OECD (2017). OECD Studies on Tourism: Tourism Policy Review of Mexico. Paris, France: OECD. p. 105. ISBN 978-92-64-26657-5.
7. "Terminal Aérea" (in Spanish). Sistema de Transporte Colectivo Metro. Archived from the original on 8 August 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
8. "Línea 5, Ciudad de México" (in Spanish). iNGENET Infraestructura. Archived from the original on 2 September 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
9. "Baia, Baia, Tacubaya... Las estaciones del metro MÁS y MENOS utilizadas en CDMX" (in Spanish). Nación 321. 4 September 2019. Archived from the original on 15 April 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
10. "Plan Maestro del Metro 2018 – 2030" (PDF) (in Spanish). Sistema de Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 December 2019.
11. "Terminal Aérea Metro Station (Mexico City, 1981)". Structurae.net. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
12. Asociación del Congreso Panamericano de Ferrocarriles (1975). "Boletín de la Comisión Permanente". 58: 154. Retrieved 16 April 2020. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
13. Noble, John; Bernhardson, Wayne (1995). Mexico (5 ed.). Hawthorn, Victoria: Lonely Planet. p. 219. ISBN 0864422911.
14. Wood, Andrew G. (2003). Pilcher, Jeffrey M. (ed.). The Human Tradition in Mexico. Wilmington, Delaware: SR Books. p. 185. ISBN 0-8420-2975-3.
15. Santos Gallagher, Hugo (14 July 2017). "¿Por qué algunas estaciones del Metro cambiaron de nombre?". El Universal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
16. Pazos, Francisco (27 July 2016). "Techumbre antilluvia alcanza 45% de avance de la Línea 5: Terminal Aérea y Oceanía". Excélsior (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
17. Kornei, Katherine (20 December 2017). "Sinking of Mexico City linked to metro accident, with more to come". Science. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
18. "Reabren estaciones de L5 del Metro cerradas por fuga de gasolina". Milenio (in Spanish). 17 March 2017. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
19. "Afluencia de estación por línea 2018" (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2019. Archived from the original on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
20. "Afluencia de estación por línea 2017" (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2019. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
21. "Afluencia de estación por línea 2016" (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2017. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
22. "Afluencia de estación por línea 2015" (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2016. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
23. "Afluencia de estación por línea 2014" (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2015. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
24. "Afluencia de estación por línea 2013" (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2014. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
25. "Afluencia de estación por línea 2012" (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2013. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
26. "Afluencia de estación por línea 2011" (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2012. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
27. "Afluencia de estación por línea 2010" (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2011. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
28. "Un verano para disfrutar los murales expuestos en estaciones del Metro" (in Spanish). Radio Fórmula. 21 July 2012. Archived from the original on 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
29. "Primer periodo ordinario de sesiones del segundo año de ejercicio" (PDF) (in Spanish). Legislative Assembly of Mexico City. 25 July 2007. p. 40. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
30. "Paisajes cálidos y fríos" (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
31. Bialostozky, Héctor (28 August 2019). "MacPuente: el puente peatonal en el Aeropuerto que se usa como mirador de aviones" (in Spanish). Local.mx. Archived from the original on 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
32. De Anda, Tamara (14 December 2017). "Excéntrica CDMX – Vuela, vuela" (in Spanish). máspormás. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2020.

External links