Local media reported the trains collided in a tunnel between the stations of Potrero and La Raza on the north-south line three.

“Sixteen people were taken to hospitals […] So far, one death has regrettably been reported,” Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on Twitter. Television footage showed injured passengers being treated in ambulances.

Inaugurated in 1969, the Mexico City Metro covers 226 kilometres with 195 stations on 12 different lines.

Authorities estimate it moved a total of 837m passengers in 2021.

However, the metro system has been the subject of much criticism for a lack of maintenance. In the most serious of a series of failures, a metro bridge collapsed in May 2021, killing 26 people and injuring dozens.