Potrero metro station

Potrero metro station is a station of the Mexico City Metro built along Insurgentes Norte Avenue in the colonias (neighborhoods) of Capultitlan and Guadalupe Insurgentes, in Gustavo A. Madero, Mexico City. It is an at-grade station with one island platform served by Line 3 (the Olive Line) between Deportivo 18 de Marzo and La Raza stations. The station and its surrounding area are named this way because there used to be a hippodrome during the Porfiriato era (1876–1911) and its pictogram features the silhouette of a head of a horse behind a fence. The station was opened on 1 December 1979, on the first day of service between Indios Verdes and Hospital General metro stations.

In 2019, the station had an average daily ridership of 17,308 passengers, making it the 106th busiest station in the network and the third-least used in the line. The facilities are partially accessible to people with disabilities as it is equipped with access ramps.

Location and layout
Potrero is a metro station located along Insurgentes Norte Avenue, in Gustavo A. Madero, Mexico City. The station serves the colonias (Mexican Spanish for "neighborhood") of Capultitlan and Guadalupe Insurgentes. Within the system, it is found between Deportivo 18 de Marzo and La Raza stations.

Potrero metro station is serviced by a transport hub called Centro de transferencia modal (CETRAM), whose size is 6,614 m2. From there, commuters can ride different routes and transport methods, including Routes 25 and 104 of the Red de Transporte de Pasajeros (RTP) system and Route 15-C of the public bus system. It is serviced by Line 1 of the Metrobús service at Potrero bus station.

Exits
There are four exits:
 * Northeast: Insurgentes Norte Avenue and Victoria Avenue, Guadalupe Insurgentes.
 * Northwest: Insurgentes Norte Avenue and Poniente 116, Capultitlan.
 * Southeast: Insurgentes Norte Avenue and Excélsior Street, Guadalupe Insurgentes.
 * Northwest: Insurgentes Norte Avenue and Poniente 112, Capultitlan.

History and construction
Line 3 of the Mexico City Metro was built by Ingeniería de Sistemas de Transportes Metropolitano, Electrometro, and Cometro, the latter a subsidiary of Empresas ICA; Potrero metro station opened on 1 December 1979, on the first day of the Indios Verdes–Hospital General service. The station was built at grade level. The Potrero–La Raza stretch goes from the street level to the underground one and its length is 1106 m. Northbound, the Deportivo 18 de Marzo–Potrero section is 966 m long. Horse, mammoth, fish and bird remains were found during its construction.

Potrero station has a partially disabled-accessible service with access ramps. The station's pictogram features the silhouette of a head of a horse behind a fence. The station and its surrounding area are named this way because there used to be a hippodrome during the Porfiriato era (1876–1911; Ex Hipódromo de Peralvillo in modern times); its paddocks were found in its northern zone.

Incidents
On 14 December 2018, a private vehicle crashed into the Insurgentes Norte and Victoria entrance's walls after it was impacted by a public bus with no injuries reported. On 19 July 2021, a man was stabbed and killed in the CETRAM's corridors in an apparent robbery. On 7 January 2023, two trains crashed inside the Potrero–La Raza interstation tunnel while both were going toward Indios Verdes metro station; one person was killed and 106 resulted injured.

Ridership
According to the data provided by the authorities since the 2000s, and before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transport, commuters averaged per year between 17,100 and 21,700 daily entrances between 2013 and 2019; the station had a ridership of 6,317,545 passengers in 2019, which was an increase of 48,482 passengers compared to 2018. Also in 2019, Potrero metro station was the 106th busiest station of the system's 195 stations, and it was the line's third-least used.