It travels 15.6 kilometers (9.7 mi) along the boroughs of Gustavo A. Madero, Cuauhtémoc and Venustiano Carranza in northern, northeastern and eastern Mexico City, serving thirteen stations.

Line 5 was built by Mexican construction company Empresas ICA and it runs at grade and underground levels.

Line 5 of the Mexico City Metro was built in early 1980s by Cometro, a subsidiary of Empresas ICA.

[2] Between Consulado and Eduardo Molina a station named Simón Bolivar was planned but never built due to budget constraints.

In Peñon de los Baños (near Terminal Aérea station), workers found the remains of mamuts, bisons, horses, camels, birds and fishes, as well as a Teotihuacan settlement.

[10] During the 1980s and 1990s, it was proposed to expand Line 5 northbound to the municipality of Tlalnepantla de Baz, in the State of Mexico.

[23] The line heads southeast along the avenue to Instituto del Petróleo station, serving the Mexican Petroleum Institute.

[24] The track continues to Autobuses del Norte station, located next to the city's Northern Bus Terminal [es].

[25] As the line reaches La Raza station,[26] it moves from Eje Central to Circuito Interior (at the section named Río Consulado Avenue), entering the first tunnel toward two underground stations: Misterios, near Calzada de los Misterios Avenue [es],[27] and Valle Gómez, in the neighborhood of the same name.

[34] Terminal Aérea displays a control tower and an airliner to reference the airport's main metro station.

[31] Eduardo Molina station is named after the namesake avenue and its pictogram features two hands holding water, referencing the mural El agua, origen de la vida by Diego Rivera, painted inside the main building of the Cárcamo de Dolores, a hydraulic sump designed by Ricardo Rivas and Eduardo Molina.

[25] Instituto del Petróleo is named after the Mexican Petroleum Institute headquarters and it is represented by an oil derrick.