The station services the colonias (neighborhoods) of Capultitlan and Guadalupe Insurgentes. The station and its surrounding area are named this way because there used to be a hippodrome and Potrero's pictogram features the silhouette of a horse head behind a fence to reference a paddock. In 2019, Potrero station had an average daily ridership of 17,308 passengers, ranking it the 106th busiest station in the network and the third least used on the line. The facilities are partially accessible to people with disabilities as it is equipped with wheelchair ramps.
Since its opening, the station has experienced some incidents, including a train crash in the southbound tunnel, where one person died and 106 others were injured, and a sinking caused by local subsidence.
The northeastern exit is located at Avenida Victoria, while the southeastern exit goes onto Calle Excélsior, both in Colonia Guadalupe Insurgentes. The northwestern exits connect to Calles Poniente 112 and Poniente 116, both in Colonia Capultitlan.[2] The station offers a partially accessible service with wheelchair ramps.[2]
Line 3 of the Mexico City Metro was built by Ingeniería de Sistemas de Transportes Metropolitano, Electrometro, and Cometro, the latter being a subsidiary of Empresas ICA.[9] It opened on 20 November 1970.[10] Service to the north, where Potrero station is located, began on 1 December 1979 heading toward Indios Verdes metro station, while running southward toward Hospital General station.[11][12]
The Potrero–La Raza segment runs from street level to the underground, measuring 1,106 meters (3,629 ft) in length. The section from Deportivo 18 de Marzo to Potrero, heading north, is 966 m (3,169 ft) long.[3][13] During construction, remains of horses, mammoths, fish, and birds were uncovered.[14]
On 14 December 2018, a private vehicle crashed into the walls at the Insurgentes Norte and Victoria entrance after being struck by a public bus with no injuries reported.[15] On 19 July 2021, a man was stabbed and killed in the corridors of the CETRAM during an apparent robbery.[16]
Two trains collided inside the Potrero–La Raza interstation tunnel while both headed toward Indios Verdes metro station on 7 January 2023. One person was killed and 106 others were injured.[17] Twenty days later, the Attorney General's Office of Mexico City attributed the accident to two reasons: reported cable theft the day before and negligent driving by the operator for failing to deactivate the autopilot and not driving in manual mode in the theft zone, as indicated by the procedure manual.
Subsequently, the Mexico City government deployed members of the National Guard to monitor metro stations, claiming—without providing evidence—that opponents sabotaged the system.[18][19] After the accident, a metro driver published a video about how the tunnels look due to the lack of lighting in multiple areas.[20]
According to the company IUYET, contracted by the metro system to inspect Line 3, the Potrero metro station building "has a high level of vulnerability due to collapses in the slabs, fractures, and subsidence". The group reported that there are areas where the tracks are not supported by the slab due to subsidence, with separations of up to 60 centimeters (24 in) and sinkings that increase between 6.87 cm (2.70 in) to 8.83 cm (3.48 in) each year in the tunnel toward La Raza. In comparison, the section from Potrero to Deportivo 18 de Marzo sinks between 1.93 cm (0.76 in) and 8.79 cm (3.46 in) annually.[21] The metro union added that there is "a deformation in the slab and the track elements, including rails, guide bars, and insulators, and sinkholes [...] which create problems in train operations and the execution of corrective maintenance work. In addition, they identified deformations in the track section between Potrero and Deportivo 18 de Marzo, which causes swaying during train operations.[22]
According to the data provided by the authorities, before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transport, commuters averaged per year between 17,200 and 20,300 daily entrances between 2014 and 2019; the station had a ridership of 6,317,545 passengers in 2019,[23] which was an increase of 48,482 passengers compared to 2018.[24] In 2019 specifically, Potrero metro station ranked as the 106th busiest station out of the system's 195 stations and was the third least used on the line.[23]
^"Red de Rutas" [Routes network] (in Spanish). Red de Transporte de Pasajeros. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
^"Red de corredores" [Route network]. Organismo Regulador de Transporte (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
^"Línea 3, Ciudad de México" [Line 3, Mexico City] (in Spanish). iNGENET Infraestructura. 20 July 2009. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
^ abc"Afluencia de estación por línea 2019" [Station traffic by line in 2019] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2020. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
^ ab"Afluencia de estación por línea 2018" [Station traffic by line in 2018] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2019. Archived from the original on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2021" [Station traffic by line in 2021] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2022. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2020" [Station traffic by line in 2020] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2021. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2017" [Station traffic by line in 2017] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2019. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2016" [Station traffic by line in 2016] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2017. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2015" [Station traffic by line in 2015] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2016. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2014" [Station traffic by line in 2014] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2015. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
^"Afluencia de estación por línea 2009" [Station traffic by line in 2009] (in Spanish). Sistema Transporte Colectivo Metro. 2010. Archived from the original on 7 September 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2024.