El Vergel Light Rail

The El Vergel Light Rail station is on the Calzada de Tlalpan directly between the original settlement of  Santa Úrsula de Coapa to the west and the Colonia Ex-Hacienda de Coapa to the east. Both towns are reminders of just how grand the Hacienda de Coapa once was. It ended as an agglomeration of ranches, farms, and the former estate buildings. One of the late ranches bore the name El Vergel.

The ranch of course draws that name from a municipality in Valencia and that name often translates to “orchard.” But most of ranches in central Mexico are thus were called ranches to distinguish them from other kinds of agricultural enterprises. The ranches were specifically focused on raising livestock

As the Coapa Hacienda evolved, it had to contend with entirely new rules in an independent Mexico. By the mid-19th-century, extensive land reforms were intended to address the problems of too much land in too few hands. Rancho El Vergel was the result of many such reforms.

The station stands in the middle of the farmland that covered most of this part of the southeast of Mexico City.  It’s a good stop for Santa Úrsula, a crooked and ancient town from even long before the colonial hacienda. On game nights and before concerts, the trains will be crowded with people headed for the next station. But most of the time, El Vergel is a sleepy stop in a curious and well-loved corner of the Capital.