Mexico City re-opens metro line shut down by deadly accident

Mexico City, Jan 13 (EFE).- Line 12 of the Mexico City Metro, out of commission since the May 2021 collapse of an overpass that resulted in 26 deaths, will resume operations at the start of next week, the system’s director said Friday.

Guillermo Calderon told a press conference that nine of the line’s underground stations are ready for passengers.

The news comes amid renewed controversy about the safety of the Metro following a tragedy last Saturday on Line 3, where a collision between two trains left one person dead and 106 injured.

The system’s deputy head of operations, Alberto Garcia Lucio, was fired and the public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum cited the Line 3 collision and other “abnormal” incidents on Thursday as she announced the deployment of 6,000 members of Mexico’s National Guard to stations and train-cars.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who authorized the use of the guard, defended the mayor’s decision.

“Why wouldn’t we use the National Guard, if it’s about protecting people on the Metro? Why not do it?,” he said Friday during his daily session with reporters.

Sheinbaum recently toured the Metro’s main repair facility, Ticoman, and held discussions with employees “to optimize the service of the Collective Transport System,” which carries some 5 million passengers a day.

Besides rebuilding the overpass, the work done on Line 12 included replacing track and reinforcing the walls of tunnels to make them better able to stand up to earthquakes, Calderon said.

Prior to the collapse, which was blamed on a contractor’s use of substandard materials, average daily ridership on Line 12 was 174,000. EFE llo/dr