Guadalajara is the second largest city in Mexico and the capital of Jalisco. As in most cities with a rapid growth, traffic congestion had no other solution than building a light rail system that runs most of its route under the surface.
The Guadalajara metro system, is a light rail known as Sistema de Tren Eléctrico Urbano that serves the entire metropolitan area of Guadalajara. The current system consists of 2 lines with 24 kms of route and 19 stations, of which 17 are underground.
The owner and operator of Guadalajara metro is SITEUR. The trains have a top speed of 70kms/h and an average speed of 35kms/h. Daily 240 thousand passengers use Guadalajara metro and nearly 90 million annually.
Lines and stations
Line 1
Line 1 was opened in 1989. It stretches from north to south between Periférico Norte and Periférico Norte terminals. Line 1 is 15.5 km long (6,6kms underground) and serves 19 stations, 7 of which are underground and 12 are at surface level. This line has 16 trains in service. The journey time is 63 minutes. Stations: Periférico Norte, Dermatológico, Atemajac, División del Norte, Ávila Camacho, Mezquitán, Refugio, Juárez, Mexicaltzingo, Washington, Santa Filomena, Unidad Deportiva, Urdaneta, 18 de Marzo, Isla Raza, Patria, España, Santuario Mártires de Cristo Rey and Periférico Sur
Line 2
Line 2, which opened in 1994, runs from the center of Guadalajara to the east, from Juarez to Tetlán. It’s 8.5 kms long and serves 10 stations. This line runs all the way under the surface. The total journey time is 36 minutes. Stations: Juárez Guadalajara, Plaza Universidad, San Juan de Dios, Belisario Domínguez, Oblatos, Cristóbal de Oñate, San Andrés, San Jacinto, La Aurora, Tetlán
At peak times there are 20 trains in operation. 12 in line 1 and 8 on line 2.
Future expansions
Line 1 will add another 3 kms section to Auditorium in the north of Guadalajara.
Line 3 will be 21.5 kms long and will circulate from northwest to southeast, from Santa Fe in Tlajomulco, to Las Juntas where it will link line 1 on the Isla Raza station. The line will have elevated sections and some other underground. It’s planned to be opened in 2017. It will have 21 stations and 16.5 kms of route.
There are 2 more lines planned: line 4 (Ávila Camacho – Plaza Universidad) and Line 5 (Plaza Universidad – south).
Besides the electric light rail, Guadalajara has a system of pre-trains from Juárez station in line 2 subway to the bus terminal of Zapopan.
Frequency and hours
The Guadalajara light rail system operates from Monday to Sunday from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m..
At rush hour there is a train every five minutes on Line 1 and every three minutes and a half in line 2. In standard time, there is a train every 7-9 minutes on Line 1 and every 6-7 minutes on Line 2 .
Tickets and fares
The price of a single trip are $7 pesos. You can pay in cash with the exact amount or with smart cards and tickets transvales. With tickets transvales you can get 50% discount in the fate but they are only valid for students and seniors. The transfers between Macrobus and light rail cost $ 3.50 pesos if you pay with the smart card.
Smart cards (tarjetas electrónicas)
It is a prepaid card that you can recharge up to 200 pesos with which you get discounts on the normal fare. It costs 20 pesos with a preloaded trip.
Customized smart cards (Tarjeta Electrónica Personalizada)
With this card discounts of up to 50% are obtained. There are several modalities: student, child, teacher, elderly and disabled.
Accessibility
Guadalajara metro is ready to serve people with disabilities. There are scalators for people in wheelchairs, Braille plates and guides for walking sticks, also visually impaired can access the trains and statins with their guide dogs, …
Guadalajara Metro Map
Interesting links
Guadalajara light train in Google
