metro station is a station of the Mexico City Metro in the city's borough of Gustavo A. Madero. It is an at-grade railway stop with one island platform serving Line 3 (Olive Line), between and . It was opened on 1 December 1979, providing service north toward and south toward .

metro station services the (neighborhoods) of and , along Avenida de los Insurgentes. The station's name references a hippodrome that formerly existed in the area. Its pictogram depicts the silhouette of a horse head behind a fence to reference a paddock. The station offers a limited accessible service with wheelchair ramps.

Outside, there is a transportation hub serving local and intercity routes, and the eponymous Metrobús station serving Lines 1 and 3. In 2025, metro station had an average daily ridership of 12,396 passenger entries, ranking it the 116th busiest stop in the network.

Since its opening, the station has been the site of several incidents, including a train crash in the southbound tunnel that killed one person and injured 106 others, as well as structural damage caused by local ground subsidence.

Location and layout

is an at-grade metro station on Line 3 along , in the ("neighborhoods") of and , in the borough, northern Mexico City. The surrounding area has mixed land use, with industrial areas to the west and residential areas to the east.

The stop has four exits leading onto : The northeastern exit is located at , while the southeastern exit goes onto , both in . The northwestern exits connect to and , both in . The station offers a limited accessible service with wheelchair ramps.

Within the system, the station lies between and . The metro station is serviced by a (), a transportation hub covering an area of . The hub provides access to various routes and modes of transportation, including Routes 25 and 104 of the () system as well as Route 15-C of the public bus system. Additionally, Line 1 and Line 3 of the Metrobús service are available at the Potrero bus station.

History and construction Line 3 of the Mexico City Metro was built by , , and , the latter being a subsidiary of . The section including metro station formed part of a northward extension from , and opened on 1 December 1979, while running southward toward station.

The section between and station descends from street level to the underground level and measures , while the opposite section runs at grade toward station is long. During the station's construction, remains of horses, mammoths, fish, and birds were uncovered.

Name and pictogram The pictogram representing metro station is a silhouette of a horse's head behind a fence. The station and surrounding area take their name from a former hippodrome that operated during the era (1876–1911), in what is now . Its paddocks were located in the northern part of the area.

Incidents Train crash

Two trains collided inside the Potrero–La Raza interstation tunnel while both headed toward metro station on 7 January 2023. The accident killed one person and injuring 106 others. Twenty days later, the Mexico City Attorney General's Office attributed the accident to two factors: reported cable theft in the area the previous day and negligent driving by the operator, who had failed to deactivate the autopilot and switch to manual operation in the affected area, as required by the procedure manual. Following the accident, the Mexico City government deployed National Guard personnel to monitor Metro stations, alleging that opponents had sabotaged the system without providing evidence to support the claim. A Metro driver subsequently published a video showing the condition of the tunnel where the crash occurred, showing areas with inadequate lighting.

Sinking issues

According to IUYET, a company contracted by the Metro system to inspect Line 3, the Potrero station building "has a high level of vulnerability due to collapses in the slabs, fractures, and subsidence". The company reported that subsidence has left sections of the tracks unsupported by the slabs, with gaps of up to and annual sinking rates of between and in the tunnel toward La Raza. By comparison, the section between and sinks at rates of between and .

According to geologist Alejandro Salazar Méndez, the passageway connecting the platforms to the entrance lobby may cause the station's caisson to "float" due to Archimedes' principle. He explained that he believes the total weight of the underground passageway is less than the upward buoyant force exerted by the surrounding sediments.

The Metro union also reported "deformation in the slab and the track elements, including rails, guide bars, and insulators, and sinkholes [...] which create problems in train operations and the execution of corrective maintenance work". It also identified deformations in the track section between and that cause trains to sway during operation.

Other On 14 December 2018, a private vehicle crashed into the walls near the Insurgentes Norte and Victoria entrance after being struck by a public bus; no injuries were reported. On 19 July 2021, a man was stabbed to death in the corridors during an apparent robbery.

Ridership

According to official data, before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the station recorded between 17,100 and 19,100 average daily entries from 2016 to 2019. In 2025, it recorded 4,524,829 passenger entries, ranking 116th among the system's 195 stations.

Annual passenger ridership Year Ridership Average daily Rank % change Ref. 2025 4,524,829 12,396 116/195 2024 4,465,441 12,200 111/195 2023 4,565,663 12,508 103/195 2022 4,290,556 11,754 101/195 2021 2,998,686 8,215 108/195 2020 3,612,909 9,871 103/195 2019 6,317,545 17,308 106/195 2018 6,269,063 17,175 106/195 2017 6,421,265 17,592 104/195 2016 6,984,359 19,082 93/195

Notes

References

External links