Metro Norte 45

Metro Norte 45 is one of the least likely Metro stations to ever be visited by international visitors. It primarily serves the colonia Industrial Vallejo to the north and Las Salinas to the south. In fact, the salinas were the salt flats for which the old town of Magdalena de las Salinas, just to the east, was named. Many of the neighborhoods in the area were neighborhoods of that prominent town through the 19th century.

The area had been occupied even some 75 years prior to Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Exploiting the salt in the area led to its rather impoverished reputation through the colonial period, but also made it seem a logical point for a Ford automotive plant already by the early 20th century. After the plant opened, the area quickly turned into a mixed industrial and residential area.

The image for the station logo comes from the name of the street, calle Norte 45, which runs northeast-southwest through the aforementioned neighborhoods. The compass rose, sometimes called the rose of the winds, plays an important role in all of the cultures of the world.

• For the ancient residents of the entire Valley of Mexico, and as the illustration makes clear, a gift of four arrows was made to newly born boys of the warrior class. This is thought to be in reference to the four cardinal points of the compass.

Like Metro Vallejo just to the east, Metro Norte 45 is primarily used by workers from the many industrial and business concerns in the area. The station is bedecked with reproductions of statues from the pantheon of old Mexico-Tenochtitlan. These are sometimes dramatically lit by the overhead ventilation shafts. Even in an underground station, the Mexico City sun can strike a particularly resonant note.