Registro Federal Light Rail

The Registro Federal station straddles the intersection of the Av. Division del Norte and the Calzada de Tlalpan. This was long the headquarters of the giant Federal Automobile Registry. That got replaced in 2008 by the Registro Publico Vehicular. As a far more streamlined agency, the giant office complex was no longer needed, but the catchy name had stuck. The station logo still shows a car (albeit in a couple of different versions) but most of the work of the old Registro is today handled online and with a bit less bureaucracy.

Most of the old Registro Federal complex is currently occupied by the tax authorities (SAT). But remember, the same federal agency also manages no fewer than three important cultural sites in the city center, and frequently lend works to a fourth. Here, they’re just to the north of the beloved Mercado El Reloj occupying a former hinterland between Colonia El Reloj and San Pablo Tepetlapa. But in the Historic Center, you can visit the tax authorities at the Old Bishop’s Palace, the SHCP Art Gallery, the SHCP Cultural Center, or see some of the collection at the Chancellery Museum. On the other side of the station, the colonia Espartaco stretches out to the east.

The area is a busy one. Nearby are the W Radio studios, one of Mexico’s biggest broadcast groups. The Football Club América also has practice fields and administrative offices just east of the station. After all, their homefield is the Azteca Stadium which lends its name to the next station on the Xochimilco Light Rail line.