Mexican Mayor Gets Stuck on Platform for New Rail System Inauguration

Mayor Gerardo Quirino Velázquez of Tlajomulco de Zúñiga was left behind on a railway platform after missing the opening ride for a new transit system in Jalisco on Dec. 15.

A viral video, showing Quirino in a cold-weather vest, running down the platform in a last-ditch effort to catch the runaway train, has been seen throughout Mexico, attracting mockery from users, who chastised the mayor for arriving late to the platform.

Officials who oversaw the inauguration ceremony of the new Line 4 of the Light Rail, a major infrastructure project aimed at improving mobility in the southern part of the city, were aware of the mayor's anticipated presence for the brief ceremony, but allowed for the train's departure anyway, noting that the mayor arrived late to the platform, and that the train's schedule was to go on as normal.

Users applauded the authority's actions, writing: “A big salute to the local pilots” and “Rules are common for all.”