| Medellín Metro | |
|---|---|
| Info | |
| Locale | Medellín |
| Transit type | Rapid transit |
| Number of lines | 2 + 3 Metrocable lines |
| Number of stations | 25 + 6 of Metrocable |
| Daily ridership | 400,000 (2007)[1] |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | 1995 |
| Operator(s) | Metro de Medellín |
| Technical | |
The Medellín Metro (Spanish: Metro de Medellín) is an urban train that crosses the Metropolitan Area of Medellín from North to South and from Centre to West. As one of the first experiences of modern mass transportation in Colombia and the only metro system in the country, the Medellín Metro is a product of the urban planning of the Antioquia Department. The city of Medellín and its urban complex (ten cities in the Aburrá Valley), had a relatively recent industrial development that started in the 1930s. The streetcar (tranvía) at the beginning of the 20th Century can be considered as predecessor of the 21st century Medellín Metro. The company known in Spanish as Empresa de Transporte Masivo del Valle de Aburrá - Metro de Medellín Ltda was created on May 31, 1979.
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The railway history of Colombia and Antioquia has not been indifferent to the industrialization process that started at the end of the 19th Century and that only has been restrained by the social and political conflicts of this South American nation.
The Antioquia Department and the Paisa Region in general, owe their progress to the construction of railways that had put them in direct contact with the rest of the country (especially with the Capital, Cali and the Colombian Caribbean Littoral).
Although the famous Ferrocarriles de Antioquia (The Antioquia Railways) came to a pitiful decline and it is now only remembered by the so called towns of the train, an urban railway system received the attention of the region. In the same way the Antioquia’s Railways did a century ago, the Medellín Metro became an important social, cultural and development axis in one of the most important cities of Colombia and South America.
The city's speedy urban growth, especially since the 1960s, has filled the entire Aburrá Valley and made towns touch its borders: Bello, Copacabana, Girardota, Barbosa, Envigado, Itagüí, San Antonio de Prado, La Estrella, Sabaneta and Caldas, among others. The city's growth to among the most important in the national economy compelled local leaders to imagine it no more as a provincial town, but rather as a complex urban system comparable with that of any industrialized city in the world.
In the same sense, Medellín and its Metropolitan Area had to face the appearance of the Cartels during the 1970s producing serious problems of urban violence, exacerbated by speedy urban growth and the slow answers to the needs of the surrounding communities. The city grew due to big migration waves coming from the Colombian countryside looking for refuge from internal political conflict. That was the main background that would explain how a young city would face urban violence with the same intensity of big metropolitan areas such as New York, México or Rio de Janeiro and why the city had to create urban projects in answer to its conflicts and growth. The Medellín Metro was created not only as a massive urban transport for the worker classes of the city, but also as an important cultural symbol that would help to develop marginalized sectors. The Metro would change the concept of public space in a city built for business and factories, but that did not have space for things like tourism as a systematic issue.
As a company, the Medellín Metro was created for the administration and operation of the Metro system. It was founded with the association of the Medellín Municipality and the Antioquia Government. In 1979, research on economical and technical possibilities began, performed by the company Mott, Hay & Anderson Ltda.
In 1980 the Project was presented to the National Government and it was approved by the National Counsel of Economical and Social Policies in 1982. It was also authorized to the company the external contract of 100% of the required resources for the work. In 1984 the company subcontracted German and Spanish firms.
On November 30, 1995, 11:00 (local time), the first journey between Niquía and Poblado Stations began. The network was completed in 1996.
The citizens soon welcomed the new service and the social and cultural impact was significant. The Medellín Metro soon became a symbol of the city (it was the first, and still the only, rail-based Metro system in Colombia) which encouraged tourism and new business growth areas in the city. There were visitors first from other regions and cities of Colombia and afterwards from abroad. Importantly, the metro bridged previously disparate “Poor city” and the “Rich city” quarters, such as when the Metro crosses abysmal social walls between districts "Lovaina" and "Poblado".
Commuters saw a vast improvement in transit times: previously workers from Bello spent two hours by bus going to Envigado. With the Metro, travel times between those two cities was shortened to just 30 minutes.
In 2004 the city inaugurated a new line known as "Metro Cable" (Line K). The line starts in the Acevedo Station and goes to the up hill district of Santo Domingo Savio. This important addition integrated new additions to the city that since the 1960s that previously were not considered part of the "real city".
Along the elevated track, the Medellín Metro has created public and cultural spaces: squares, restaurants, parks, recreational places, cultural areas, business sites, giving a new vision to the second largest Colombian city.
In 2008 a second "Metro Cable" line (Line J) was inaugurated. The line starts in the San Javier Station and goes through Juan XXIII and Vallejuelos to the La Aurora district. This new line benefits approximately 150,000 new users.
A new Metrocable line (line L) was inaugurated in 2009 with a transfer station at Santo Domingo Savio Station. This line continues further uphill to El Tambo[2] in Arví park near Guarne. The reason for constructing this line is because the city wants to promote tourism in the rural area near Lake Guarne. It takes 14 minutes to ascend to El Tambo and there are not intermediate stations.
Line A will also be expanded in Itagüí and Sabaneta sometime in 2011. A new intermediate station will be built near 67th Sur Street and the final station will be built near 77th Sur Street.
It has two lines: Line A with 19 stations and Line B with 6 stations (one of transference). Additionally, the cable car system Metrocable has three lines: Line K with 3 stations (one of transference), Line J also with 3 stations (one of transference) and Line L with one stations.
As of 2011, these are the 25 metro stations and the 7 of Metrocable; transfer stations are in bold:
| Line A North to South |
Line B East to West |
Line K (Metrocable) North to Northeast |
Line J (Metrocable) West to Northwest |
Line L (Metrocable) Northeast to far Northeast |
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