Mexico City inaugurates new 'Grasshopper' trolleybus line connecting Chapultepec to Ciudad Universitaria

Mexico City inaugurated its new "Ruta del Chapulín" (Grasshopper Route) trolleybus line on Tuesday, connecting the Chapultepec transport hub with Ciudad Universitaria in the south of the capital.

The new line features 60 100% electric 12-meter-long trolleybuses, decorated with grasshopper imagery, and represents an investment of 1.2 billion pesos. It will operate along a 22-kilometer route, serving an estimated 60,000 daily users across five western boroughs: Cuauhtémoc, Miguel Hidalgo, Benito Juárez, Álvaro Obregón, and Coyoacán.

At the launch event, Mexico City's Head of Government, Clara Brugada, stated that the route "jumps over mobility barriers" in the western part of the city, likening it to the grasshopper, an emblematic species of the Valley of Mexico. This new line, along with another planned "Ruta de los Animales Silvestres de los Pedregales" (Wild Animals of the Pedregales Route), brings the total investment in electromobility to 1.6 billion pesos.

The trolleybuses are equipped with features such as pink seats for women and can travel up to 75 kilometers without overhead power lines. The operator Corepsa will manage 42 units, while the Service of Electric Transport (STE) will operate the remaining 18. As part of the initiative, Corepsa will also decommission 72 older concessioned buses, converting them into the new trolleybus fleet. The STE director, Martín Lopez Delgado, noted that the route will allow for travel between Chapultepec and Ciudad Universitaria in approximately 53 minutes, with a two-minute interval between arriving trolleybuses.