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| Golden Line Adds Tarnish to Sprawling Subway System | |
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| MEXICO CITY — There is music on the trains of Mexico City’s newest subway, the Golden Line, piped in at just the right volume to be pleasantly audible over the rumble. One recent morning, the playlist came to a classic: “Midnight Train to Georgia.” | MEXICO CITY — There is music on the trains of Mexico City’s newest subway, the Golden Line, piped in at just the right volume to be pleasantly audible over the rumble. One recent morning, the playlist came to a classic: “Midnight Train to Georgia.” |
| The team that selects the Metro’s songs might want to scratch that one. This train was not going to another state. It was not going to the terminal, not even halfway. | The team that selects the Metro’s songs might want to scratch that one. This train was not going to another state. It was not going to the terminal, not even halfway. |
| Eleven of the Golden Line’s 20 stations, along its elevated stretch of track, have been forced to close until further notice. | Eleven of the Golden Line’s 20 stations, along its elevated stretch of track, have been forced to close until further notice. |
| Such mix-ups are not uncommon in Mexico, where roads collapse after rainfalls, the hulks of unfinished hospitals wait for equipment and the walls of libraries ooze with dampness. | Such mix-ups are not uncommon in Mexico, where roads collapse after rainfalls, the hulks of unfinished hospitals wait for equipment and the walls of libraries ooze with dampness. |
| Until now, though, the Metro had been different. Fast and cheap at less than 40 cents a ride, the trains carry about 5.3 million people a day, placing Mexico City’s subway network just below New York’s among the world’s busiest. | Until now, though, the Metro had been different. Fast and cheap at less than 40 cents a ride, the trains carry about 5.3 million people a day, placing Mexico City’s subway network just below New York’s among the world’s busiest. |
| When it was inaugurated in 1969, decorated with Aztec artifacts and Mayan-style friezes, the Metro was a symbol of a rising nation with a glorious past. The tunnels withstood the devastating earthquake of 1985, and the stations’ sleek look made them a set piece for the future in the 1990 science fiction movie “Total Recall.” | When it was inaugurated in 1969, decorated with Aztec artifacts and Mayan-style friezes, the Metro was a symbol of a rising nation with a glorious past. The tunnels withstood the devastating earthquake of 1985, and the stations’ sleek look made them a set piece for the future in the 1990 science fiction movie “Total Recall.” |
| Even now, crowded and shabby like much of this vast city, the Metro still gets people to work on time. | Even now, crowded and shabby like much of this vast city, the Metro still gets people to work on time. |
| Then came the Golden Line — more of a mustard color on the map — officially called Line 12. Soon after the line opened in October 2012, it became evident that it had serious problems. They were not detectable to riders, except in one maddening way: Over elevated stretches, the trains went slower and slower, because engineers were afraid they might derail and plunge to the street below. | Then came the Golden Line — more of a mustard color on the map — officially called Line 12. Soon after the line opened in October 2012, it became evident that it had serious problems. They were not detectable to riders, except in one maddening way: Over elevated stretches, the trains went slower and slower, because engineers were afraid they might derail and plunge to the street below. |
| In March, 17 months after the $2 billion line was inaugurated, the city announced that it was suspending service on a large part of the line. Finger-pointing followed, and some people were feeling defensive. | In March, 17 months after the $2 billion line was inaugurated, the city announced that it was suspending service on a large part of the line. Finger-pointing followed, and some people were feeling defensive. |
| “They are all first-world companies and you know them,” snapped Ricardo Moscoso Morán, a representative of the business consortium that built the line, during a recent hearing at the city assembly. | “They are all first-world companies and you know them,” snapped Ricardo Moscoso Morán, a representative of the business consortium that built the line, during a recent hearing at the city assembly. |
| But the commuters crammed onto the city buses that now cover the disabled part of the route are feeling decidedly third world. | But the commuters crammed onto the city buses that now cover the disabled part of the route are feeling decidedly third world. |
| “Just look at these buses,” said José Luis Trejo, 38, a candy salesman, pointing at a line of ancient vehicles, windows cracked, exhaust spewing, in formation outside the line’s terminal at Tláhuac, in the rural reaches of the city’s southeast. “They must have got them from out of storage, or the junkyard.” | “Just look at these buses,” said José Luis Trejo, 38, a candy salesman, pointing at a line of ancient vehicles, windows cracked, exhaust spewing, in formation outside the line’s terminal at Tláhuac, in the rural reaches of the city’s southeast. “They must have got them from out of storage, or the junkyard.” |
| The buses travel the winding course of Line 12, through low-rise neighborhoods of auto-body shops and furniture stores, to a stop at Atlalilco, where the trains are running. When it was fully operating, the line carried 450,000 people a day. | The buses travel the winding course of Line 12, through low-rise neighborhoods of auto-body shops and furniture stores, to a stop at Atlalilco, where the trains are running. When it was fully operating, the line carried 450,000 people a day. |
| Mr. Trejo, who travels more than two hours each way to work, seemed to grow defiant for a moment. “We should close off streets, demand our rights,” he said, blaming the city government for incompetence at best, corruption at worst. | Mr. Trejo, who travels more than two hours each way to work, seemed to grow defiant for a moment. “We should close off streets, demand our rights,” he said, blaming the city government for incompetence at best, corruption at worst. |
| Israel Martínez, 29, blamed the shutdown on “the people who handle the finances who get up to their old tricks and don’t finish the work properly.” A composer for an educational television station whose commute now takes 90 minutes instead of 40, he continued, “Nobody has said, ‘This person is responsible for bad decisions.’ It’s the same old story.” | Israel Martínez, 29, blamed the shutdown on “the people who handle the finances who get up to their old tricks and don’t finish the work properly.” A composer for an educational television station whose commute now takes 90 minutes instead of 40, he continued, “Nobody has said, ‘This person is responsible for bad decisions.’ It’s the same old story.” |
| When Line 12 was working properly, it cut an hour each way off the commute for María de la Luz Cobos, 57, who works in a company that sells construction materials. “When they built this line, it was a wonder,” she said. “Let’s see how long it takes to be fixed.” | When Line 12 was working properly, it cut an hour each way off the commute for María de la Luz Cobos, 57, who works in a company that sells construction materials. “When they built this line, it was a wonder,” she said. “Let’s see how long it takes to be fixed.” |
| Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera raised hopes this week when he said the repair work could take less than six months. City officials are awaiting the final report of two French companies hired to diagnose what ails the Golden Line. Tests are being conducted in a laboratory in France. | Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera raised hopes this week when he said the repair work could take less than six months. City officials are awaiting the final report of two French companies hired to diagnose what ails the Golden Line. Tests are being conducted in a laboratory in France. |
| “After that we will know whether the patient needs ambulatory surgery, major surgery or just treatment with pills,” said Alfredo Hernández , Mexico City’s public works secretary and the man in charge of making sure the line is fixed as soon as possible. | “After that we will know whether the patient needs ambulatory surgery, major surgery or just treatment with pills,” said Alfredo Hernández , Mexico City’s public works secretary and the man in charge of making sure the line is fixed as soon as possible. |
| The consortium that built the line is led by ICA, a prominent Mexican construction firm, working with another Mexican construction firm, Grupo Carso, and the French energy and transport multinational Alstom. The group has built other Metro lines in the city without incident. CAF, the Spanish company that provided the trains, has also supplied other Metro lines without major problems. | The consortium that built the line is led by ICA, a prominent Mexican construction firm, working with another Mexican construction firm, Grupo Carso, and the French energy and transport multinational Alstom. The group has built other Metro lines in the city without incident. CAF, the Spanish company that provided the trains, has also supplied other Metro lines without major problems. |
| The source of the malfunction remains unclear. About the only thing everybody agrees on is that the rails have suffered an unusually accelerated pattern of wear. | The source of the malfunction remains unclear. About the only thing everybody agrees on is that the rails have suffered an unusually accelerated pattern of wear. |
| ICA and its partners noted that the specifications for the trains changed midway through the project, a point that led to widespread media coverage that the wheels did not match the rails. | ICA and its partners noted that the specifications for the trains changed midway through the project, a point that led to widespread media coverage that the wheels did not match the rails. |
| But Adrián Michel, a legislator on the assembly’s investigating commission who was a high-ranking official in the former city administration, said that was unproven. | But Adrián Michel, a legislator on the assembly’s investigating commission who was a high-ranking official in the former city administration, said that was unproven. |
| “There is no report saying the project has problems,” he said, noting that three separate studies concluded that the wheels and rails were compatible. Instead, he said, the tracks had not been maintained properly, either by the consortium or by the Metro administration. | “There is no report saying the project has problems,” he said, noting that three separate studies concluded that the wheels and rails were compatible. Instead, he said, the tracks had not been maintained properly, either by the consortium or by the Metro administration. |
| But the shutdown has raised the question of whether the line was rushed into service so that the former mayor, Marcelo Ebrard, could claim full credit before leaving office. | But the shutdown has raised the question of whether the line was rushed into service so that the former mayor, Marcelo Ebrard, could claim full credit before leaving office. |
| Mr. Ebrard is an ambitious left-wing politician who won praise for his progressive approach to the city’s transport tangle, but he has been conspicuously absent since the Golden Line’s problems surfaced. | Mr. Ebrard is an ambitious left-wing politician who won praise for his progressive approach to the city’s transport tangle, but he has been conspicuously absent since the Golden Line’s problems surfaced. |
| The current mayor, Mr. Mancera, who is also on the left, got off to a lackluster start and must get the broken Metro fixed if he expects to generate any enthusiasm for his political future. | The current mayor, Mr. Mancera, who is also on the left, got off to a lackluster start and must get the broken Metro fixed if he expects to generate any enthusiasm for his political future. |
| “In public, everybody is passing the buck,” said Héctor Retana, 23, an accounting student whose two-and-a-half-hour commute was cut to just one hour when the line began operating and now spends an additional half-hour on the bus. | “In public, everybody is passing the buck,” said Héctor Retana, 23, an accounting student whose two-and-a-half-hour commute was cut to just one hour when the line began operating and now spends an additional half-hour on the bus. |
| “But if you are the boss of something,” he said, “then you have to be responsible for what’s going on.” | “But if you are the boss of something,” he said, “then you have to be responsible for what’s going on.” |