Metro Observatorio

Metro Observatorio is the only above ground station on Line 1 of the Mexico City Metro. Named for an observatory that once stood on a nearby hill, today, Observatorio can refer to the entire area of surrounding neighborhoods, all of them in the alcaldia Álvaro Obregón.

There are plans to eventually extend Line 12 of the Metro from its current terminal station at Mixcoac.

• The National Observatory had been built on the nearby hill and opened in 1908. The site had been a colonial-era palace and the seat of the Bishop of Tacubaya. The growing city had made it un-usable as a scientific observatory soon after it was taken over by the National University (UNAM) in 1929.
• Today the Bishop’s palace and former observatory houses the Pan-American Institute of Geography and History and the National Meteorological Service.

Most international visitors will visit en route to Santa Fe or to some of the sites within the Bosques de Chapultepec immediately to the north. Among the most important is the enormous Panteon Civil de Dolores.

Today, Metro Observatorio sees about 305,000 passengers on their way each day.  Many of them are in transit from the west-city, Observatorio intercity bus station. Probably just as many arrive to the transit center for local buses to the Metro stations. There are also plans to connect the Metro here with a suburban train to Toluca in the State of Mexico.