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With 2 million inhabitants Medellín is Colombia's second largest city (2.9 mill in metropolitan area). The city stretches out in a north-south direction along the Aburrá Valley. Construction of the elevated metro system began in 1985.

Line A is 25.7 km and runs along the Aburrá Valley from Bello in the north to La Estrella in the south. 7 of the 21 stations are on a viaduct through the city centre, the rest is at grade. The first part between Niquía to Poblado opened in November 1995, the line reached Itagüí in September 1996. Platform length on this line is 142 m and normally 6-car-trains are in service. A trip on the entire line takes 36 minutes.

Line B runs 5.6 km through the city of Medellín from west to east connecting with line A at San Antonio right in the city centre. This line opened on 28 February 1996. Platform length is 72 m (3-car trains), there are 6 elevated stations and one at grade. A journey along the whole line takes 11 minutes.

A few trains operate during morning and evening rush hours directly from Niquía to San Javier via a link track which was built between Caribe on Line A and Suramericana on Line B.

Metrocable
Lines H, K, J, M and P are urban cable car systems which link metro and tram stations to the hilly neighbourhoods, while line L has a more tourist character.

30 Nov 1995 - Line A Niquía - Poblado (16 km)
28 Feb 1996 - Line B San Antonio - San Javier (9 km, incl. connecting line)
30 Sept 1996 - Line A Poblado - Itagüí (6 km)
17 Sept 2012 - Line A Itagüí - La Estrella (2.5 km)

30 July 2004 - Line K (Aerial cable car)
03 Mar 2008 - Line J (Aerial cable car)
09 Feb 2010 - Line L (Aerial cable car)
17 Dec 2016 - Line H (Aerial cable car)
28 Feb 2019 - Line M (Aerial cable car)
11 Jun 2021 - Line P (Aerial cable car)

 Projects

A northern extension of Line A to El Hatillo (21 km), serving some 500,000 people in the towns of Bello, Copacabana, Girardota and Barbosa, has been proposed. Trains would take advantage of a disused railway alignment.

4 km Translohr-type tram on rubber tyres, trial service started on 15 Oct 2015, with full revenue service eventually launched on 31 March 2016.

It links the metro hub at San Antonio to the eastern districts, with two of its stops providing interchange with two new cable cars that serve some hilly neighbourhoods.

Metro de Medellín - Official Site

Metro de Medellín at Wikipedia.es