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Balderas
STC rapid transit
A NE-92 arriving to Line 1 platforms.
General information
Location	Avenida Balderas Cuauhtémoc Mexico City Mexico
Coordinates	19°25′39″N 99°08′57″W / 19.42744°N 99.149036°W / 19.42744; -99.149036
Operated by	Sistema de Transporte Colectivo (STC)
Line(s)	(Observatorio - Pantitlán) (Indios Verdes - Universidad)
Platforms	4 side platforms
Tracks	4
Connections	Balderas Balderas stop (temporary)
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Platform levels	2
Parking	No
Bicycle facilities	No
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	In service
History
Opened	4 September 1969 20 November 1970
Key dates
9 November 2023 (2023-11-09)	Temporarily closed
13 September 2024 (2024-09-13)	Reopened
Passengers
2023	Total: 16,067,800 9,030,215 7,037,585  21.82%
Rank	30/195 57/195
Services
Preceding station Mexico City Metro Following station Cuauhtémoctoward Observatorio Line 1 Salto del Aguatoward Pantitlán Juáreztoward Indios Verdes Line 3 Niños Héroestoward Universidad
Route map Legend Observatorio yard Observatorio Tacubaya Juanacatlán Chapultepec Sevilla Insurgentes Cuauhtémoc Balderas Salto del Agua Isabel la Católica Pino Suárez Merced Candelaria San Lázaro Moctezuma Balbuena Boulevard Puerto Aéreo Gómez Farías Zaragoza Zaragoza workshops Pantitlán This diagram: view talk edit Legend Ticomán workshops Indios Verdes Deportivo 18 de Marzo Potrero La Raza Tlatelolco Guerrero Hidalgo Juárez Balderas Niños Héroes / Poder Judicial CDMX Hospital General Centro Médico Etiopía / Plaza de la Transparencia Eugenia División del Norte Zapata Coyoacán Viveros / Derechos Humanos Miguel Ángel de Quevedo Copilco Universidad This diagram: view talk edit
Location BalderasLocation within Mexico City Area map

Balderas is an underground station on the Mexico City Metro. It is located in the Cuauhtémoc borough in the center of Mexico City. It is a transfer station along Lines 1 and 3. Since 9 November 2023, the Line 1 station has remained closed for modernization work on the tunnel and the line's technical equipment. The Line 1 station was reopened on 13 September 2024.

Name and iconography

The station receives its name from the nearby Balderas street, which in turn was named in honor of Lucas Balderas, a Mexican military officer that participated in the Mexican–American War and was killed at the Battle of Molino del Rey in 1847. It is said that his last words were "poor country of mine".

The station pictogram depicts the colonial-era cannon preserved on the nearby Plaza de La Ciudadela. The cannon is a reminder of the Ten Tragic Days, which was a period a little bit longer than 10 days in which a coup the democratically elected government of Francisco I. Madero took place. This chapter would end with the murder of President Madero and Vice-President José María Pino Suárez, as well as the rise to the presidency of Victoriano Huerta.

General information

Nearby Metro Balderas are some interesting places, like La Ciudadela market, filled with Mexican handicrafts, the José Vasconcelos Central Library of Mexico City, and facilities of broadcaster Televisa. Next to the library lies a tianguis (street market) full of books old and new, comics, collectibles, etc.

This station has an information desk and facilities for the disabled. It also displays a plaque unveiled on 19 September 2004, celebrating Mexican rock musician Rockdrigo González, killed exactly 19 years earlier in the 1985 Mexico City earthquake and composer of a song titled "Metro Balderas". In September 2011 a real-size bronze statue of Rockdrigo was also unveiled inside the station.

Although this station is totally underground, cellular phone signals (GSM and TDMA for several providers) are able to reach the platform. The station also has charging stations for mobile devices.

History

Metro Balderas was opened on 4 September 1969, as part of the first stage of Line 1, going from Chapultepec to Zaragoza.

The station became the network's second transfer station, when the first stretch of Line 3, from Tlatelolco to Hospital General, was opened in November 1970.

Incidents

On Friday, 18 September 2009 a mass shooting occurred on the platform. A man was tagging one of the station walls with a marker, therefore, he was confronted by a police officer. He reacted by taking out a gun and killing the officer and a construction worker who tried to disarm him, he also left five more wounded. The man later claimed that he committed the killings "in the name of God" and was sentenced to 151 years in prison.

The man who tried to disarm him was Esteban Cervantes Barrera.

On 29 December 2018, a woman gave birth to a child inside the station, at the Line 1 platforms, helped by personnel of the Mexican Red Cross.

Nearby

• Biblioteca de México, public library.
• Escuela Libre de Derecho, law school.
• Televisa Chapultepec headquarters.
• Parque Tolsá, park.
• Centro Escolar Revolución, elementary school.

Exits

Line 1

• North: Tolsá street and Balderas, Centro
• South: Avenida Niños Héroes and Avenida Chapultepec, Colonia Doctores

Line 3

• East: Avenida Arcos de Belén, Colonia Doctores
• Southeast: Avenida Niños Héroes and Dr. Río de la Loza street, Colonia Doctores

Station layout

G	Street Level	Exit/Entrance
B1	Mezzanine for platform connection	Fare control/Ticket windows
	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Westbound	← toward Observatorio (Cuauhtémoc)
	Eastbound	→ toward Pantitlán (Salto del Agua) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right
B2	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Northbound	← toward Indios Verdes (Juárez)
	Southbound	→ toward Universidad (Niños Héroes) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right

Ridership

Gallery

• Entrance to the station in the corner of Avenida Chapultepec and Av. Niños Héroes
• Entrance sign to the station
• Line 3 platforms
• Commemorative plaque to Rockdrigo González
• Statue honoring Rockdrigo

References

1. ^ "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.
2. ^ "Balderas" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
3. ^ Archambault, Richard. "Balderas (Line 1) » Mexico City Metro System". Retrieved 1 July 2012.
4. Archambault, Richard. "Balderas (Line 3)» Mexico City Metro System". Retrieved 1 July 2012.
5. "Cierre de la Línea 1: El ABC de las estaciones cerradas y el RTP". 9 November 2023.
6. "Reabren tramo de la línea 1 del Metro de la CDMX". máspormás (in Mexican Spanish). 13 September 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
7. "¿Sabes por qué el logotipo de la estación Balderas es un cañón?". Excélsior (in Spanish). 9 May 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
8. "Lucas Balderas". www.durangomas.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2019.
9. "Mercado de La Ciudadela". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
10. "Biblioteca Vasconcelos" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 July 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
11. "Rockdrigo 'cantará' permanentemente en el metro Balderas del DF" (in Spanish). Expansión. 19 September 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
12. "Instalan en Metro Balderas centros de carga para celulares". Diario de México (in Spanish). 15 August 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
13. ^ "Balderas" (in Spanish). Metro CDMX. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
14. Avila, Eduardo (20 September 2009). "Mexico: Shooting at Balderas Metro Station". Global Voices Online.
15. "El día en que el Metro Balderas se tiñó de rojo". Reporte Indigo (in Spanish). 18 September 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
16. "Nace un bebé en la estación Balderas del Metro de la CDMX" (in Spanish). Noticieros Televisa. 29 December 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
17. ^ "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.
18. ^ "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.
19. ^ "Afluencia de estación por línea 2019" [Station traffic per line 2019] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2020. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
20. ^ "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.
21. ^ "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.
22. ^ "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.
23. ^ "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.
24. ^ "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.

External links

• Media related to Estación Balderas (Metro de México) at Wikimedia Commons
• "Rockdrigo Memorial". Atlas Obscura.

v t e Mexico City Metro stations
Line 1	Observatorio Tacubaya Juanacatlán Chapultepec Sevilla Insurgentes Cuauhtémoc Balderas Salto del Agua Isabel la Católica Pino Suárez Merced Candelaria San Lázaro Moctezuma Balbuena Boulevard Puerto Aéreo Gómez Farías Zaragoza Pantitlán
Line 2	Cuatro Caminos Panteones Tacuba Cuitláhuac Popotla Colegio Militar Normal San Cosme Revolución Hidalgo Bellas Artes Allende Zócalo/Tenochtitlan Pino Suárez San Antonio Abad Chabacano Viaducto Xola Villa de Cortés Nativitas Portales Ermita General Anaya Tasqueña
Line 3	Indios Verdes Deportivo 18 de Marzo Potrero La Raza Tlatelolco Guerrero Hidalgo Juárez Balderas Niños Héroes / Poder Judicial CDMX Hospital General Centro Médico Etiopía / Plaza de la Transparencia Eugenia División del Norte Zapata Coyoacán Viveros / Derechos Humanos Miguel Ángel de Quevedo Copilco Universidad
Line 4	Martín Carrera Talismán Bondojito Consulado Canal del Norte Morelos Candelaria Fray Servando Jamaica Santa Anita
Line 5	Politécnico Instituto del Petróleo Autobuses del Norte La Raza Misterios Valle Gómez Consulado Eduardo Molina Aragón Oceanía Terminal Aérea Hangares Pantitlán
Line 6	El Rosario Tezozómoc UAM-Azcapotzalco Ferrería/Arena Ciudad de México Norte 45 Vallejo Instituto del Petróleo Lindavista Deportivo 18 de Marzo La Villa-Basílica Martín Carrera
Line 7	El Rosario Aquiles Serdán Camarones Refinería Tacuba San Joaquín Polanco Auditorio Constituyentes Tacubaya San Pedro de los Pinos San Antonio Mixcoac Barranca del Muerto
Line 8	Garibaldi / Lagunilla Bellas Artes San Juan de Letrán Salto del Agua Doctores Obrera Chabacano La Viga Santa Anita Coyuya Iztacalco Apatlaco Aculco Escuadrón 201 Atlalilco Iztapalapa Cerro de la Estrella UAM-I Constitución de 1917
Line 9	Tacubaya Patriotismo Chilpancingo Centro Médico Lázaro Cárdenas Chabacano Jamaica Mixiuhca Velódromo Ciudad Deportiva Puebla Pantitlán
Line A	Pantitlán Agrícola Oriental Canal de San Juan Tepalcates Guelatao Peñón Viejo Acatitla Santa Marta Los Reyes La Paz
Line B	Ciudad Azteca Plaza Aragón Olímpica Ecatepec Múzquiz Río de los Remedios Impulsora Nezahualcóyotl Villa de Aragón Bosque de Aragón Deportivo Oceanía Oceanía Romero Rubio Ricardo Flores Magón San Lázaro Morelos Tepito Lagunilla Garibaldi / Lagunilla Guerrero Buenavista
Line 12	Observatorio Álvaro Obregón Valentín Campa Mixcoac Insurgentes Sur Hospital 20 de Noviembre Zapata Parque de los Venados Eje Central Ermita Mexicaltzingo Atlalilco Culhuacán San Andrés Tomatlán Lomas Estrella Calle 11 Periférico Oriente Tezonco Olivos Nopalera Zapotitlán Tlaltenco Tláhuac
indicates the station is under construction or reconstruction

• Mexico City Metro Line 1 stations
• Railway stations in Mexico opened in 1969
• Mexico City Metro stations in Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City
• Mexico City Metro Line 3 stations
• Accessible Mexico City Metro stations
• Railway stations located underground in Mexico
• Colonia Roma
• Railway stations in Mexico opened in 1970