Metro Ecatepec

Metro Ecatepec is a station on the B Line of the Mexico City Metro. The station was originally named “Tecnológico” for a nearby technical school. But the name of the station was changed in 2008. Still, it is far from the Historic Center of Ecatepec which is about a half-hour-drive north of the station.

San Cristobal Ecatepec is today the municipal seat. It was, during the ancient period, a small village bearing the name in the Nahuatl language for Ehéca(tl) wind and Tépe(tl) hill, that is, “On the hill of the wind.” Ehécatl is one name for Quetzalcóatl, the important deity known across the ancient Mesoamerica. Through the Ehécatl aspect, Quetzalcoatl appears as the god of the air and wind.

The glyph, shown in a stylized version on the station logo, depicts the beaked head of a bird resting on a stone base or monolith. That is, Ehécatl appears as a bird atop the small mountain.

During the colonial period, settlers re-dedicated the village to San Cristobal, and this then became the seat of the municipality created in 1874. Today, the municipality’s 1.6 million residents occupy far more than that the old village, although that’s where the administration has remained.

Today, the entirety of this part of Metro Line B serves the southern reaches of Ecatepec. Even more Ecatepec commuters will arrive into Mexico City via the various transit lines arriving at Indios Verdes.